


The Hidden Prince

by FlyingStewardess (GeneralDaijyoubu)



Category: One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Succubi & Incubi, Asexual Monkey D. Luffy, Eventual Sex, Fugitives, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Minor Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, POV Roronoa Zoro, Romance, Succubi & Incubi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-10 22:11:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 80,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8941402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeneralDaijyoubu/pseuds/FlyingStewardess
Summary: Zoro's simple life masquerading as a human is forever changed after he saves his irritating, curly-browed coworker from a violent attack. As his secrets unravel, the incubus must run from the oppressive regime that is relentlessly hunting him. But being a fugitive isn't so bad, especially when a certain cook has no choice but to come along for the ride. AU, ZoSan.





	1. Chapter 1

Zoro was hungry.

He leaned heavily on his elbows and hovered over his drink as he sat at the sleek, modern bar at the restaurant where he bussed tables. Even though it was after his shift, he didn't want to go home to his apartment just yet.

It had been over two weeks since Perona started dating her new boyfriend. Zoro had only seen the champion fencer in photos, and although she seemed an odd match to the older, severe-looking man, it was really none of his business.

He would have been happy to see the irritating, negative girl go, if the no-strings-attached arrangement that had kept the incubus well fed for the past two years hadn't been leaving with her.

He sighed into his sake, rippling the surface of the alcohol.

It had been over two weeks since he had fed.

"Oi, get back to work, lazy marimo!" a blond chef yelled at him from the kitchen.

"I'm off the clock, idiot!" Zoro roughly barked back.

He hated that damn owner's son. Sanji had gained notoriety as a chef from the scores of fancy cooking competitions he had been winning since he was a child. He was in line to inherit the Baratie when the old man retired, which would probably be never. He was also an arrogant, insufferable asshole, and since Owner Zeff was out of town this week, he had been extra bossy.

"Then drink your booze in the back. Your ugly mug is scaring away all of the customers," the cook complained, jabbing his finger towards the break room.

Zoro swiped his drink off the bar and stomped to the back, cursing under his breath. He was way too hungry for this crap.

He felt the energy surrounding his body tremble like a rumbling stomach, branching off into invisible tendrils which eagerly stretched towards coworkers he passed on the way to the break room.

Before his arrangement with Perona, the incubus had a hard time getting enough sexual energy to live off of. On his meager income, he could only afford to pay for sex so many times a month. He wasn't exactly great at picking people up, and using his powers to entrance people into activities without their consent, which was what a lot of his kind seemed to do, was out of the question.

This type of thing wouldn't be happening if he had access to the national donors registry, an official, documented menu of people who wanted to be fed off of by incubi and succubi, but since he was off the grid with the authorities he was on his own to find his own partners.

Until he was able to find someone like Perona who didn't mind coming over weekly for casual, incredible sex, it was hook-ups and hookers.

And hunger.

"What the hell are you doing hanging around here anyway?" Sanji said acidly as he grabbed his pack of cigarettes from his locker and lit one up.

Zoro shrugged irritably, watching his tight ass as if it were a Porterhouse steak.

"Bored. Wanted a drink," he replied shortly, taking another sip as he concentrated on keeping his grasping power contained.

The blonde sat down at the table across from Zoro to smoke. He turned on the television.

The news was on, and footage from the day before of the first human being sworn in to the all-incubus and succubus Parliament was being aired. Zoro inwardly cringed at the fresh-faced young man with lilac hair and large, round glasses. This poor guy had 'fresh meat' written all over him. His eyes flicked to Sanji.

"He's going to be dead in six months," the cook stoically predicted as he watched, taking another drag off of his cigarette.

The next news story caught Zoro off guard. It had been such a shitty week that he had forgotten that the ten year anniversary of the previous ruling family's assassinations was in just a few days.

The bodies of the king, queen, and young princess were found brutally slashed in a hallway of the palace by servants one October morning, and their assassinations rocked the entire kingdom to its core. The murders were never solved, and although the prince was also reported to be dead, a body was never found. Claims of sightings of the so-called green-haired "Emerald Prince" popped up so often that Zoro had long stopped paying attention to them.

He scowled hatefully as he watched King Lucci make some mournful speech in front of the palace while cameras flashed.

The cook broached the silence.

"Are you really going to hang around work and watch TV in the break room on a Friday night?" Sanji asked bluntly.

The green-haired man downed his sake and rose to his feet. That bastard had a point. He had to find someone to feed off of or he was going to go crazy.

"Fine, I'm going home," Zoro grumbled.

His stomach whined audibly as he got up. He sighed, rubbing a hand across his face as he roughly pushed in his chair.

The cook raised a spiral eyebrow, studying him intently. "When's the last time you ate?" he asked seriously.

"None of your business," Zoro replied curtly.

Sanji slammed his palms on the table. "I'm a cook. I know when someone's hungry, marimo! You've been like this all week!" Sanji tapped his cigarette out and stormed back into the kitchen.

Zoro stared after him, stunned. Was he that obvious?

A few minutes later, he returned with a huge plate of his famous seafood fried rice and plopped it in front of him.

"I don't like you, but I hate to see people go hungry," he explained tersely.

Zoro couldn't help but be a little bewildered. Even though he wouldn't get any actual sustenance from the food, he grabbed the fork, took a huge bite, and was overwhelmed by the incredible flavor of the rice. He wondered why Sanji was acting like a human being to him all of a sudden.

The cook draped his arm over the back of a chair while he enjoyed another cigarette, watching Zoro with overt self-satisfaction. The incubus paused mid-motion as he raised the fork to his mouth. He could think about only one thing as he began hyperfocusing intently on the vibrant life energy flickering around the cook's body. It was time to get out of there.

"Thanks," the green-haired man grunted.

"Yeah, yeah. I know we pay you, so spend it on food instead of booze next check, you damn idiot. Here's something for later," he offered, pushing a box of food towards him.

Zoro nodded, placing his fingers gently on the box. "I'm going to head home now," he replied, starting to feel a little woozy as he slipped into his hoodie.

More like head downtown to find someone who wouldn't mind taking an I.O.U. for sex.

He sighed again, then swung open the back door and stepped into the night.

* * *

Zoro walked halfway to the train station before he realized he forgot the box of extra food that he had planned to give Luffy.

Realizing he would never hear the end of it if his roommate smelled the delicious food on him, the green-haired man turned back, figuring his reluctant trip could wait just a little longer.

After a bit of wandering, he eventually found the Baratie again and noticed a limousine parked out front on the darkened street.

A chill ran over his skin as he passed the limo, and as he got closer he could sense that the awaiting driver was another incubus. Zoro gave him a hostile glare.

Suddenly, one of their waitresses flung open the front door so hard it slammed loudly against the brick of the building with a deafening clang. She ran straight to Zoro, her wild eyes shooting back towards the Baratie.

"Zoro! Call the police!" she pleaded in a desperate, high-pitched voice.

"What's going on?" he asked with alarm.

"He just walked in and said he could have anyone he wanted!" she shouted, gripping onto his arm.

He pried her off of him, his stare focused solely on the door. "Run and call the cops," he told her, then sprinted with inhuman speed into the building.

As he came through the door, he saw a lavender-haired incubus with a dark, scarred nose pressing Sanji up against the wall, clumsily groping his chest as he took energy at an alarming rate. A frightened customer struggled to her feet nearby, and it looked like the cook had put up a fierce struggle to protect her as pieces of broken furniture and plates were littered all around them. Throngs of diners ran towards the bar, where they were being funneled out through the back door by the wait staff.

The cook's uncovered eye pleadingly met Zoro's before he was smothered in more waves of unwanted pleasure.

The green-haired man's heart was pumping molten iron as he suddenly loomed over them.

Sanji's attacker didn't see Zoro come up behind him, and didn't know what hit him when he was punched right through the front windows with a satisfying, crunching shatter of double pane glass.

Zoro caught the cook as he fell limply to the floor.

"Oi," he said, shaking him. He was relieved when he took a peek at Sanji's life energy and saw that the man hadn't had time to take too much just yet.

"Marimo," Sanji choked, sitting up. "You hit him. You should run," he mumbled, his uncovered eye struggling to focus on him.

Zoro knew that death sentences were routinely handed down to any human who harmed an incubus or succubus. Right now, he didn't care. For once, he was glad he wasn't human, because he was about to kick some incubus ass.

The gaunt, wild-eyed man tore open the front door, bleeding from cuts that were steadily healing. He searched for and found Zoro, his eyes burning with murderous intent.

Zoro stood, trying to ignore Sanji as he felt his hand slip weakly down his arm in a flimsy effort to try to stop him.

"Oi, you! Outside. NOW," Zoro ordered.

"Worthless human! Do you not know who I am? I am Lord Spandam! My father is Duke Spandine! You are about to learn what happens to a human who makes an incubus bleed," he said haughtily, no doubt relishing the vile ways he was planning on collecting Zoro's energy.

"Are you going to cry about it some more or are you going to fight me?" Zoro huffed, impatience pacing like a caged tiger in his eyes. The faster he could get him out of the building and away from the people trying to flee, the better.

The incubus's face flushed bright crimson as he began to shake with violent rage. "I see you have a death wish," Spandam snarled as his sunken eyes narrowed in disgust. He turned sharply on his heel and marched out of the restaurant.

"Marimo, don't do it, you damn idiot! Everything is over if he feeds off of you!" Sanji desperately yelled at him.

"Don't let anyone outside," Zoro ordered the cook as he followed his opponent out.

"You're going to learn some respect for your betters. If you survive, that is," the incubus threatened with a snide grin. He angrily picked out few shards of glass from his bloodstained coat.

Zoro rolled his eyes. He decided it wouldn't be great to be discovered right now, so he continued to blanket himself in his human glamour.

"The last I heard, it was illegal to just grab someone in public and feed off of them," Zoro sneered, the desperate look on Sanji's face replaying in his mind, turning his stomach.

"Who cares? Go ahead and report it! As long as I do it in my own territory, it's not like anyone is going listen to a human!" the purple-haired man let out a braying laugh.

Zoro's body stiffened. "Territory only goes as far as you're able to defend it," he said with a sinister smirk.

"I'm going to make that smart mouth beg!" Spandam's power exploded and rushed towards Zoro, who calmly hardened his aura so the hungry miasma slid right off of it.

He shaped three elegant, ghostly katanas from his softly glowing power, two in his hands and one in his mouth.

The dishwasher turned swordsman slashed in a blurring, circular motion, cleanly slicing the limo right behind the man into equal pieces as easily as cutting a cake. The driver shrieked, crawling out through a cut section.

The other incubus looked shocked, but he still wanted to fight. The swordsman felt him raise his energy again to attack.

Zoro began to sweat. He was using too much of his already depleted power. He had no choice. He had to end this quickly, and the powerful, last legacy of his former life seemed like the only option as his swords began to flicker weakly.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them a powerful wall of brilliant energy rushed out in all directions, so bright that even a human could see it with their naked eyes.

Spandam and his driver dropped to the ground, out cold.

The green-haired man reabsorbed his swords, and a wave of dizziness crashed through him. He had used too much of his life force on an already low reserve, and he drunkenly stumbled back into the restaurant.

Sanji and some of the staff were waiting by the door, and they helped him in. He thought he could vaguely hear sirens in the distance.

"Shit, you're pale, marimo! Did he feed off of you? What happened?" the cook fired question after question at him.

"I knocked them out," Zoro muttered weakly, then collapsed on the floor. As his consciousness faded, he heard a woman's voice over the scuffle of his coworkers.

"Take him to my office," she said, and he felt strong hands grip his wrists and ankles.


	2. Chapter 2

Zoro began feeding even before he woke. He was ushered into consciousness by luxuriously smooth lips on his and long, elegant fingers stroking his stomach and threatening to go lower.

As hungry as he was, he wasn't going to even question who it was for the time being. Zoro began devouring the sensual thoughts and intentions surrounding the person, the space between them blurring like the air over hot asphalt as the mass of energy flowed into him.

The woman moaned softly, the incubus's trademark pull of energy coaxing out lofty heights of unworldly pleasure from even just a kiss.

He would need much more than a kiss to sate him, but as Zoro began to feel himself again he had the mind to wonder who it was that he was feeding off of. His eyes fluttered open to find long, silky black hair draped in his face and the last person he thought he would ever take energy from hovering over him.

It was the Baratie's bookkeeper, Nico Robin. He stopped feeding and jerked away. He was in her office, sprawled across her leather couch.

She stood and smoothed out her blouse. "It is as enjoyable as they say," she said, giving him a cryptic smile.

"Who else knows?" Zoro asked quickly.

"Your human cover is still intact. Although you might have to turn the ambulance they called away," she told him.

"Did that asshole leave?" he asked.

Robin nodded. "You scared him off, for now. But that incubus noble is going to be wondering who the incubus with the green hair who challenged him was," she replied, her words carrying the heaviness of dangerous knowledge.

Zoro glowered at her. "Why did you really help me?"

Her blue eyes sized him up, dark amusement upon her features. "It wouldn't do to have our Emerald Prince die so soon, not when we he could still be of use to us."

Anxiety blossomed in Zoro's chest as tiny fragments of his thoughts collected like tiny snowflakes, forming a rushing avalanche to a huge realization.

"You're a Revolutionary," he said venomously. "I already told you people no!" Zoro growled.

"You have to understand our interest. We fight for the rights of humans. You seem to have human values, and the throne is rightfully yours," she replied in even tones.

"I'm sorry this kingdom is shit because of my kind, but me suddenly hopping on the throne isn't going to make it better. You know who truly deserves the throne? My roommate Luffy. He's the man who should be king one day," he said with conviction.

"If you would like to see this man rule, then seize the throne and give it to him yourself. I too would like to see a human rule," she said wistfully.

He had meant every word. Luffy could be annoyingly random and full of energy, but he was brave. Shockingly powerful, having eaten a Devil Fruit. Honorable. And he was what incubi called an Anathema, meaning someone who was immune to being fed off of. All of this would be perfect for leading a Parliament comprised solely of incubi and succubi used to getting their way by any means necessary.

There were many different reasons someone could be classified as Anathema, but Luffy fell into this category because he did not feel any sexual attraction to others. It made for a convenient roommate situation for Zoro, as he could drop his guard around his friend in ways that would have other people begging the incubus to take them.

They heard an ambulance's siren in front of the building.

"Please consider it. Know we aim to make our move soon, with or without you. I'll sweeten the deal by offering you steady donors if you help us in any way, seeing as your noble way of feeding often leaves you hungry," she said with a faint smile, a disembodied hand sprouting from the door to open it for him.

"Great, another Devil Fruit eater," Zoro groaned, passing quickly through the door.

* * *

He dismissed the ambulance without allowing them to examine him, then grabbed the box with the extra food for Luffy from the break room. Sanji could sort out the rest of this mess for tonight, and he really wanted to avoid the cops who were questioning people in the dining room. Zoro just wanted to feed.

There was a blond cook with his hands on his hips blocking him when he went for the back door.

"What, cook?" Zoro said, frowning.

"I can't believe you were stupid enough to try to face that incubus on your own! Do you know what the shitty geezer would have done to me if someone would have died while he was away?" Sanji shouted, making angry, sweeping gestures with his arms.

"I knew what I was doing. They left, didn't they?" Zoro pointed out.

"You almost died!" Sanji furiously yelled back.

"Look, I'm tired. Save me the bitch fest," Zoro snarled, trying to push past him.

"And what the hell is between you and Robin? I saw you kissing when I went upstairs to check on her," he growled, his fiery eye a brazier burning with righteous accusation.

Zoro cursed inwardly. "It's none of your business," he snapped.

"The ladies here are my business, and if Robin wants to date you, I'm going to make sure as hell you treat her right," Sanji threatened, deadly serious.

"Oh my god," Zoro groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Your stomach's growling again, by the way," the cook noticed with annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm hungry. Now move so I can get something to eat," Zoro grumbled.

"My food not good enough?" Sanji challenged.

The cook's dishes were delicious, but the only food Zoro was craving right now was in Sanji's bedroom, not his kitchen. He yanked his unfurling energy back again.

"Get the hell out of my way," Zoro hissed through clenched teeth.

"Not until you tell me what happened out there. What the hell cut up that limo? Why did they leave so easily? Did you sell us out?" Sanji demanded, spreading his arms and legs to completely block the doorway.

"I don't sell my friends out!" he loudly insisted. Utterly starved and exhausted, Zoro felt the invisible, grasping fingers of his power wrap around and caress the cook, who had become very quiet.

"What are you doing?" Sanji said nervously, unsure of what he was sensing.

Just a few dirty thoughts and the cook's energy that Zoro was flowing over would become the food he longed for.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he pulled Sanji close, their lips almost touching.

The cook blushed furiously, the warm feel of Zoro so close to him causing his aura to finally shift.

Luffy suddenly barged into the back, knocking them aside with the door. "Oh Zoro! There you are!"

Zoro painfully pulled himself away from the awaiting meal. "Luffy! I'm not sure why you're here, but I sure as hell could use a ride," he told his roommate, relieved at his uncanny timing.

"A lady named Robin called and said you were crazy hungry and to come pick you up," he said casually.

The incubus wondered just how the hell Robin got Luffy's number when he remembered he had put his roommate as his emergency contact on his application.

"Marimo. We're talking about this later," Sanji interrupted, scowling distrustfully at him.

Zoro glared back, trying to bury the shame he felt at nearly losing control.

Meanwhile, Luffy had discovered the leftovers and was funneling them into his mouth. "Ah, this is so good!" he exclaimed, sighing contentedly.

"That guy made it," Zoro pointed at Sanji.

"You're a cook?" Luffy said in awe. "You're going to be my official chef when I become king," he announced matter-of-factly.

Sanji couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not becoming your official anything. Who do you think you are, the Emerald Prince?"

The dark-haired boy shook his head, then began to point at his roommate. "No, that's-"

His voice was muffled as Zoro clapped his hand over his mouth. "Idiot! Time to leave."

* * *

Zoro was so relieved to be driving away in Luffy's car that he didn't realize they weren't going home until they pulled up to a strange house. The smaller man checked the address against his phone's navigation.

"This is the place," he announced, grinning at Zoro.

"Luffy, where the hell are we?" the green-haired man asked irritably.

"Robin also said that she set you up a donor for tonight only. This guy apparently knows my brother," Luffy replied, getting out of the car.

"What?! Then I definitely can't do this. I don't want to owe those Revolutionaries anything!" Zoro protested, stubbornly crossing his arms and planting himself.

Luffy's rubbery arms extended back into the car, unbuckling Zoro's seatbelt and dragging him roughly out of the driver's side door.

"Look, you've been hungry and mopey for two weeks. I would feed you if I could, but I can't. This isn't the Zoro I know. Pick yourself back up and keep moving forward! You're no use to anyone if you don't eat!" Luffy yelled, the fire that Zoro had come to admire blazing in his eyes.

"Alright," Zoro simply replied, defeated. Luffy was right. He desperately needed to feed, and it was either this comfortable-looking home with the tall elm trees out front or the back room of the strip club. He began walking towards the house.

A tall man with dark glasses and strange hair that was one half orange, one half white answered the door and let them in.

"You must be Zoro," the man said approvingly, swirling his wineglass thoughtfully in his hand as he studied the incubus.

"And Sabo's little brother. I am Inazuma. Welcome," he introduced himself, padding to the kitchen. "Wine?"

"Yeah, thanks," Zoro said, following him. Long ago, when his powers had been first Awakened, this used to be the awkward part, knowing that he was about to fuck the person in front of him senseless as he tried to make small talk in their kitchen. Necessity and years of practice had done well to obliterate this uncertainty and shame.

True shame was taking without permission, without consent, just like he was about to do to Sanji tonight. It didn't matter even if they had kept their clothes on, if he had just stolen his fill from kisses and caresses. He knew if he ever lost that shame he would end up being just like one of those assholes like Spandam, taking anything and anyone who suited him.

As Inazuma poured him some wine and Luffy some water, Zoro suddenly wished he was standing in someone like Sanji's kitchen instead of some stranger's, trying to identify all the fancy cooking gadgets while verbally sparring with him in some half-hearted argument. Maybe he had just gotten used to having someone familiar and steady like Perona, he thought dismally.

"Robin has told me a lot about you. I won't get into business tonight, but you should at least hear her plan out," Inazuma said evenly.

"What's that?" Luffy asked curiously, suddenly at the counter.

"We want to make Zoro king, but apparently he wants to make you king instead," he told Luffy, chuckling.

Luffy turned to his friend, a determined grin stretching across his face. "Let's do it! Give me your throne, Zoro!" he laughed.

Zoro slapped a hand across his forehead. "Look, it's not that simple. You would have to-"

"Overthrow the current monarchy and oust the entire Parliament. We are well aware," Inazuma interrupted, smirking.

"You're talking about an entire coup of a regime, not just replacing the king? You people are crazy!" Zoro snapped, his wine glass nearly sloshing over in his agitation.

Luffy was having a hard time containing his excitement. "Let's do it, Zoro!"

The incubus gave a resigned sigh. "Look, I'll tell you what a told them. I'll think about it."

As Luffy nodded, Zoro caught Inazuma giving the dark-haired boy a soft smile, looking very pleased with himself. He set down his wineglass and turned to the incubus.

"Shall we?" the Revolutionary motioned towards the stairs.

"I'll be waiting out in the car," Luffy said, bounding across the living room and out the door.

* * *

The bedroom had accents of dark, rustic woodwork, a fine Persian rug, and most importantly, a king size bed.

Zoro shrugged out of his hoodie, going through his usual checklist.

"Ever been with one of my kind?" he asked.

"No," Inazuma replied, following Zoro's suit and unbuttoning his shirt.

"How about a man?"

He looked at Zoro and gave a firm nod. The incubus let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for small miracles.

"Do you have any plans for tomorrow? As hungry as I am, I'm going to do a full feeding. It won't hurt you, but you'll be tired into tomorrow, kind of like a hangover. Just eat a lot when you get up and you'll be fine," he told him.

"It's Saturday, so I'm not working. It's hard to believe you're prince of the incubi. I never thought one of you would have such consideration for their food," Inazuma said thoughtfully.

"That's because you're a damn person, not food. Now quiet, I'm done talking about all of that," he said gruffly as he crawled onto the bed.

* * *

Zoro was practically glowing when he left Inazuma's house. He roused Luffy, who had fallen asleep in the driver's seat.

"Oi, let me drive. I'm a lot more awake than you right now," he offered, his tone robust and chipper.

"No, you'll just get lost," Luffy yawned. "You look better," he muttered, smiling at his friend.

As they drove off, Inazuma was awoken from a deep sleep, nestled in the warm blankets Zoro had thrown over him, by the annoying chirping of his cell phone.

"Hello?" he answered groggily.

"So he did show," Robin purred.

"Luffy was with him. If he's really serious about subjugating the throne to him, we couldn't have gotten any luckier," he murmured, yawning.

"Yes. As much as he hates us, I'm fairly certain he hasn't discovered who Luffy's father is yet," she said, sly satisfaction in her voice.

"Probably for the best," he yawned again. "He wasn't kidding about this making you tired," Inazuma groaned.

"Go to sleep," she said gently. "You did well."

They hung up, leaving Robin to wonder how exactly they were going to push Zoro over the edge into joining their cause.


	3. Chapter 3

A big shove came the next day, when police were leading Sanji out of the Baratie in handcuffs as Zoro arrived for his shift.

"Oi! What the hell did he do?!" Zoro demanded as he ducked under the police tape.

Sanji squirmed in their grasp. "Marimo! Run!" he shouted.

The green-haired man felt the cold metal of handcuffs being snapped around his wrists by strong, gloved hands.

Sanji gave Zoro one last look of concern before he was pushed down into a police car.

"Zoro. You are under arrest for the assault of Lord Spandam. It's odd that we couldn't find your full name in any of our records or even the Baratie's records. No birth certificate, no driver's license. It's like you don't exist," a deep bass voice growled from behind him.

"I exist enough to go to jail for some bullshit reason, apparently. That bastard attacked my coworker!" Zoro bit back, turning his head to glare at his captor in the eye.

The solidly built white-haired man clenched down on his two cigars, glaring steadily back at Zoro. "I have my orders. Whether you both are guilty or innocent, it's up to the courts to decide. They'll find out who you really are at headquarters," he told him, motioning for his subordinates to lead him off.

Just then, a policewoman with dark hair and glasses ran up and saluted.

"Captain Smoker, the analysis came back on the victim's limousine. It was cut by concentrated incubus or succubus energy, most likely in the form of the blades as described by Lord Spandam," she reported, her tone official and serious.

Zoro's jaw dropped. This woman could have been his sister Kuina's twin. He must have been staring too long, because she scowled at him and drew back as if he were some sort of pervert.

"Stop looking at me like that!" she ordered, wrinkling her nose.

"It's nothing like that! You just look like my sister who died!" Zoro yelled back indignantly.

"Quiet!" Smoker belted out, jerking Zoro's cuffs for emphasis. "Lord Spandam said that he saw you use swords of energy to slice the limo. I have a hard time believing you're an incubus, but all of the evidence is stacked against you," Smoker said unemotionally, studying Zoro.

"Just cut him and see how fast he heals," Tashigi said smartly, crossing her arms.

"I'm sending him to headquarters, and the incubi there will be able to take one look at him and tell me definitively if he is or isn't. If he is, his case will have to go to a higher court," Smoker told her. He passed Zoro off to an officer, who loaded him into the same car as Sanji.

Smoker leaned against the hood of his cruiser, deep in thought as the prisoners were driven off. Tashigi walked up and watched him quietly.

"An unregistered incubus working as a dishwasher under a false name who happens to have green hair and serious energy manipulation skills," he mused, stroking his chin. "It can't be," he muttered.

Tashigi was shaking, ready to explode. "He said I looked like his sister who died! Captain Smoker, people always told me I look like Princess Kuina! Could that man have been the real Emerald Prince?" she blurted out excitedly.

Smoker reached into his coat and extracted his cell phone. "There's only one way to find out," he said.

* * *

They rode in heavy silence to police headquarters with two of the fittest officers Zoro had ever seen riding up front. The passenger had a shotgun and his mace out, as he had been apparently ordered by Smoker to take them seriously.

The incubus kicked Sanji's foot to get his attention.

When Sanji turned his head, Zoro shifted in his seat to covertly reveal to the cook that he had already broken his handcuff chain in half. He jerked his head meaningfully towards his door.

Sanji's mouth gaped open. The incubus saw the cook's curly eyebrow angle low over his eye as he weighed his options. When he looked back up at Zoro, he nodded resolutely.

As they exited the highway and stopped at a red light, Zoro reached over and snapped Sanji's cuffs as simply as breaking a toy. The policemen looked up to see the green-haired prisoner push a strange, glowing blade through the lock portion of the door while the other man kicked it open, catapulting it off its hinges onto the curb. Zoro then pulled the cook by his wrist out into traffic.

"Holy hell!" Sanji exclaimed as he was dragged at incredible speeds by Zoro across the deadly 8-lane maze of zooming cars. They emerged through traffic and ducked into an alley, Zoro's hand still gripping the cook's wrist as he pulled out his cell phone.

He spoke in hushed tones, but Sanji heard enough of the conversation to know he was begging for a ride.

"No, I don't know where the hell I am!" he snapped at the person on the line.

Sanji grabbed the phone from his hand. "Luffy, meet us at the Red Line Diner on East Blue Avenue in about 15 minutes. That's right, I won't let him lead," he said, hanging up and presenting the phone back to the annoyed incubus.

The cook pulled out his cigarettes and lit one. "You've been lying to us," he said with disappointment, his visible eye reflecting an angry red glow from a neon billboard as he glared hatefully at his coworker.

"I had my reasons. Look, talk to me about this shit when we get somewhere safe," Zoro said sternly, beginning to walk.

Sanji passed him and took the lead. "What I don't understand is why you're bussing tables when you could be living it up at the yacht club with the rest of the energy thieves!" he sneered.

"Because if I did that, they'll try to kill me!" he told him coldly. They ducked into the shadow of a doorway as police cars with sirens blaring sped by on the street ahead.

Suddenly, Zoro's phone rang from his pocket. It was Nico Robin.

_"Check out the link to this news article I just sent you. Do it now,"_ she emphasized, uncharacteristically flustered.

"Well, you're going to have to send it to the cook then, because I'm too poor to afford data," he replied irritably.

A chime pinged from Sanji's phone. His thumbs tapped on a few things before his jaw dropped. He stared at Zoro with a strange expression as he passed the phone over.

Zoro's heart nearly stopped. The headline accompanying a photo of him and Sanji being arrested read, _"Emerald Prince Found."_

* * *

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Zoro repeated as he struggled to follow Sanji's hurried footsteps in a daze.

"Well now I know why you can't go to the freaking yacht club, marimo. Holy shit, you shitty bastard! Everyone at the Baratie is in danger because of you!" Sanji shouted back.

"I'm sure Robin and her little friends are on it," Zoro muttered, seriously hoping the Revolutionaries were as well prepared as they appeared to be. Were they really the only place he could turn to right now?

"Poor Robin-chan is probably so scared. Oi, you didn't force yourself on her, did you?!" the cook demanded.

"I don't do things like that!" Zoro insisted.

"What about last night, then? You sure as hell looked like you were going to take a big bite of me before your friend showed up!" the cook reminded him.

Zoro's gaze fell to dingy concrete of the alley as he squeezed his fists tightly at his sides. "I never took your energy," he said through clenched teeth.

Sanji threw a scowl back at him, his anger fueling an even quicker pace. "You would have," he said.

They continued in tense silence the rest of the way to the diner, hiding in the darkness behind some dumpsters with a good view of the Grand Line's parking lot. Night had thankfully fallen, giving them additional shadows to hide in.

They heard the thrumming blades of a helicopter in the distance accompanied by a symphony of sirens.

"Tch. They really want it, don't they?" Zoro muttered.

"What?" the cook whispered.

Zoro shot a look at the searchlights streaming down from the sky over the area they had fled.

"Ever heard of the Conqueror's Haki? It's the proof of the right to rule, kind of like a scepter. The King can't officially pass down the throne to another until the Haki passes from him to his successor," he explained in hushed tones.

"And you have this?" Sanji narrowed his eyes.

Zoro nodded.

"It just keeps getting better and better with you, marimo! Wait - tell me that isn't the thing that can defeat 50,000 enemies at once," the cook said uneasily.

"Supposedly," Zoro answered.

"So if they get you, we're all screwed," Sanji said numbly.

"Maybe. I don't know how to get it out of me. I've been trying to give it to Luffy, but it won't go," Zoro replied in frustration.

A grey sedan pulled into a space in the very back of the parking lot. Zoro scrambled to his feet.

"That's him," he confirmed. He and Sanji hopped in the back seat, as there was already someone sitting on the passenger side.

Zoro immediately recognized the wavy-haired man as the Revolutionary who visited him at the Baratie months ago and casually threatened to expose him if he didn't help them.

"Oi! What the hell is he doing here?!" Zoro snarled, bristling like an angry dog.

"Zoro! Long time, no see!" the pale haired man laughed lightly, giving him a carefree grin.

"Enough of your shit!" the incubus yelled, lunging at him.

A slender, rubbery arm wrapped like a harness around Zoro's body, forcing him back into his seat.

"Zoro! Stop! This is is my big brother, Sabo!" Luffy yelled at him.

" _This_ is Sabo?!" Zoro exclaimed.

* * *

Zoro sat brooding for the rest of the ride, which took them out of the city and into the countryside.

The two brothers goofed off up front, switching the radio between horrible music and breaking news that was all about him.

Sanji's still form flickered in the steady pulse of passing street lights, and Zoro's eyes gravitated towards his silhouette as he tried to tune out the nerve-wracking newscasts.

The cook spotted his interest and grimaced, crossing his arms tightly over his body. "What? You hungry or something?"

"Don't mind me, just thinking about sex like I always do," Zoro replied sourly, roughly turning in his seat to look out his own window. For the billionth time in his life, he wished he were human so people like Sanji could go back to hating him for just his personality.

"You were really hungry yesterday. It was a legitimate question!" Sanji protested.

The brothers turned down the radio, their full attention on the argument.

"I've been working with you for years, and in all that time you were never worried I was going to jump you!" Zoro yelled belligerently.

"The difference is that you almost did jump me, asshole!"

"I never took your energy! I wish you'd just treat me like a human being!"

"Hey Zoro," Luffy got his attention. "You're not human," he said mercilessly, meeting his gaze in the rear view mirror.

"You can't pretend that you're some regular guy anymore. You weren't born regular. You're the prince of a race that has been hurting lots of people. So what are you going to do about it? You have the power to change the world, make it safe for the humans you call your friends," Luffy said, his voice going a little lower as he spoke seriously.

"Even if I wanted to, how the hell am I supposed to do that?" Zoro huffed.

"Ah, turn here, Luffy. This is it," Sabo chimed in, pointing at a narrow driveway in a break in the trees.

Luffy turned into the lane and slammed on the brakes, coming to a full stop. He spun around in his seat.

"By believing in me," he told Zoro, giving his friend a wide grin.

"Now, food!" he cried out, revving the engine and taking off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the way the story is going, I wanted to put a spoiler warning for future chapters through the Zou/very beginning of Whole Cake Island arc (2016). Some new groups of characters and very general situations and plot points.

They traveled down a long dirt drive as Luffy and Sabo shared exploits of tangling with all sorts of wild creatures in the surrounding forest when they were growing up.

Luffy parked the car in front of an old, two-story farmhouse with fading white paint. He jumped out and raced to the door, and the red-haired bear of a woman who answered it seemed happy to see him for a brief moment until she thought better of it. He zipped past her on the hunt for something to eat.

“Is this him?” Dadan asked Sabo in a whisper as he walked up, glancing warily over at Zoro. 

The incubus looked away, gritting his teeth as he pretended not to hear them discussing how safe it was to have him in the house and which one of them he was to room with. Zoro followed Luffy in, breezing past their anxious whispers that his sensitive hearing made sure he didn’t miss a word of. 

After obligatory introductions had been made and everything had been decided, Zoro went straight up the squeaky stairs to the spare bedroom Dadan indicated he would share with Sanji. When he opened the door, he scowled at the lone bed as if it had personally wronged him. 

The annoyed incubus walked over to an empty wall and sat down on the wooden floorboards, leaning against the yellowing floral wallpaper like a resting samurai. He listened to the laughter rising from the floor below as the humans enjoyed the amazing-smelling dinner that Sanji whipped up on the spot.

The incubus found himself teetering comfortably on the edge of sleep to the sound of the cook’s rich baritone laugh. From the commotion downstairs, it seemed like Luffy was most certainly shoving something up his nose to entertain them.

A long while later, Sanji carefully entered the room and turned on the antique lamp on the night stand. There was a long pause.

“What the hell are you doing on the floor?” he asked in a condescending tone.

“There's only one bed,” Zoro replied, squinting at the cook as he tried to divine what exactly what the other man was getting at.

“We’ve never gotten along, but I've known you long enough to know that if you get into this bed, nothing is going to happen,” the cook explained, slipping his tie and shoes off and climbing under the heavy quilt.

“Really inviting an incubus into your bed, cook?” Zoro responded, stubbornly crossing his arms.

“And here I thought you wanted to be treated like a human. Look, I don't care where you sleep, just be quiet about it, Prince Moss Head,” the cook grumbled, reaching over and turning off the light. 

Zoro stared at the blocky shapes of the quilt as his mind mulled over Sanji’s invitation. 

“Oi, have you heard from the old man?” Zoro asked abruptly as he suddenly remembered the people that were left behind at the Baratie.

“No,” Sanji said gloomily. “He was supposed to be coming back into town tonight but he’s not answering his phone, and I texted Robin-chan and she said that even the police can't find him to question him, thankfully,” he replied, a fleck of fear in his smooth voice.

“He probably saw the news and is lying low for a bit. You know he can take care of himself,” Zoro reminded him.

“Yeah, I know,” the cook said, unconvinced. “I hope he’s hiding. As things are now, we won't be able to return to the restaurant for a long time, maybe never,” he sighed.

Zoro cringed, guilt drenching him completely like a sudden downpour. Although Sanji was still wanted for assault, the fact that he was seen escaping with the Emerald Prince was what made things truly dangerous for him.

“You should get to a safe house, too,” the incubus told him.

“Sabo said he’d handle it. He wants to talk to you in the morning, by the way,” Sanji yawned.

“I'm sure he does,” Zoro growled snidely through gritted teeth.

Across the darkened room, Sanji lifted his head and glared at Zoro’s shadow. “What the hell is your problem with Sabo?”

“I don't trust anyone who has plans to use me, shit cook. He came to the Baratie not too long ago and gave me an ultimatum,” Zoro explained with a harsh edge. 

“Ultimatum?” Sanji asked in disbelief, scrunching up his face. “He doesn't seem like the type to do that without good reason,” he mused.

“It’s not wrong for him to threaten the enemy, right?” Zoro said wryly. 

“He wanted me to come to their headquarters to meet with Dragon or he’d tell Owner Zeff who I really was. Although I’m pretty sure your father already knows,” Zoro said, stretching as he crossed his arms above his head. 

“There’s no way he knows who you are. No way in hell you’d still be working there,” the cook blurted out angrily.

“You’re kidding yourself, cook. The old man picks up people with bad pasts, like Gin and Patty. Most of the people working for him used to be criminals,” the incubus replied casually, amused at the cook’s reaction.

“Your case is different and you know it! He couldn't have known,” Sanji snapped, sitting up. 

“You know how he always makes the staff tons of food to take home at Christmas? Every year he gives me a huge box like everyone else's with just an envelope with some cash in it,” Zoro told the glaring cook. 

“Everyone knows how damn poor you are,” Sanji grumbled.

“The first year he wrote _‘For whatever you eat’_ on it. Scared the shit out of me, but he never brought it up. He definitely knows,” the incubus said, secretly enjoying watching the cook get flustered.

Sanji laid back down, and Zoro’s amusement turned to confusion when he saw the hurt on his face. 

“Oi, he really saved me. Not many would give a job to a guy without an ID and pay them cash under the table,” the incubus said seriously. 

Sanji let a slow breath out as he rolled to face away from the incubus. “His kindness to you really did him a lot of good,” the cook replied numbly.

“I did protect his son,” Zoro replied.

“I wish you wouldn’t have,” Sanji said faintly. “I’d still be at the Baratie right now.”

“Not about to watch you get groped or worse in front of me, cook,” the incubus told him matter-of-factly.

“I’ll appreciate your Prince on a white horse act more when you and Luffy are drafting new laws to protect other humans from that,” Sanji yawned into his fist.

“It’s been a long day and I’m exhausted. Good night, marimo,” the cook ended the conversation, leaving Zoro to wonder where his self-sacrifice for the restaurant ended.

* * *

When Zoro woke, there was a heavenly smell filtering up the stairs.

He stretched as he eyed the empty bed, willing himself to suck it up and go downstairs to listen to a desperate rebel try to parcel his future out.

Sanji had made a big breakfast, but it looked like everybody had already eaten and run, leaving the leftovers neatly stacked on a plate. 

A wisp of cigarette smoke wagged in the draft from a clouded old window over the sink as the cook finished the dishes. 

“You hungry? I'm not sure how that exactly works with you, marimo,” Sanji said neutrally, his back to the incubus. 

“Not right now,” Zoro said as he grabbed a piece of bacon and crunched into it. “I only really ate food when I was a kid. Now it doesn’t do anything for me except taste good.”

“You used to eat food?” Sanji asked, raising a spiral eyebrow. He threw Zoro a towel and gestured at him to start drying.

“Until my powers were Awakened,” Zoro replied as he grabbed a wet dish. 

“What does that mean?” Sanji inquired.

“It’s like puberty. Things were never the same for me after I lost my virginity,” Zoro explained with a grin. “Let me know if you need help with yours, by the way,” he teased.

“You know I’m not! I’m sure you can sniff out a real virgin a mile away,” Sanji bit back, puffing on the cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth as he scoured a large pan.

“Not so much, but I can read it in the way you act,” he said smoothly, examining the cook’s movements as he drifted into his personal space. “It’s been a while for you, hasn't it?” Zoro murmured in a velvet whisper.

A red flush washed over the cook’s face. “Will you just dry, damn it?” Sanji complained, shoving the pan into the other man’s chest and getting him wet in the process.

“Where is everyone?” Zoro asked, toweling himself and the pan off as his smirk faded.

“Dadan is running to the store for supplies and ingredients for lunch and dinner, and Luffy and Sabo went to get everything set up with their Revolutionary friends for us fugitives. By the way they talked, it sounds like they are thinking about taking us their base or something,” the cook explained, handing him another dripping dish.

“Nice. Just great,” Zoro scoffed.

“Why do you hate the Revolutionaries so much?” Sanji asked, turning to make eye contact.

“I have my reasons,” the incubus said coldly.

The annoyed cook’s mouth pulled down into a deep frown. “Why am I not surprised you won’t tell me?” he muttered.

Zoro was just about to open his mouth when a metal canister shattered a window pane and spun around on the kitchen floor, hissing and emitting ribbons of strange, blue smoke.

Their eyes met in wide-eyed surprise, and the blonde ducked down to see out the hole in the grimy glass.

“It’s the cops!” Sanji choked, stumbling out of view of the window.

The incubus snagged a peek and saw an army of police cruisers pulling up with harsh, pulsing lights flanked by the stocky frames of special operations vehicles. He could now hear unsettling crashes and scraping coming from the floor above them.

“Shit!” Zoro cursed, covering his mouth with his dish towel as the gas burned his eyes and lungs. He and Sanji ran to the back door, only to find that the house was surrounded by officers in riot gear. Choking smoke began to fill the small space.

Sanji was hacking so much he could no longer speak. The cook fell to his knees as his weeping eyes began to swell shut. 

Zoro began to get dizzy himself, the protection of his wet dishcloth faltering as he began to choke. He watched through the haze as Sanji slumped to the ground, and he quickly picked him up and shouldered him, then unlocked the door.

The trained officers open fired as soon as he flung it open and shot out of the house in a blur of movement. He flinched as he felt a round catch him, cursing as sharp pain spread coldly through his chest. Zoro didn't slow, burning through his life force to dash with superhuman speed into the thick woods. He heard the police yelling as they chased after, firing more shots as they escaped.

After a long run Zoro began to get tired, so he paused to catch his breath and set Sanji down to check if he got hit.

The cook didn't get a bullet, but he hacked repeatedly, sitting down on a rock with his head in his hands as he tried to clear the smoke from his lungs. Zoro watched him with a tight frown as his face turned a vibrant shade of red, tears pouring out of his eyes as his whole body shook with coughs. The incubus laid a hand on his back, and Sanji felt a tingle of power flowing between them.

The cook glared back at him, barking out more coughs. Zoro was unmoved, the warmth of his hand sinking into the other man’s muscles.

After a while, his coughing began to slow down and he jumped up, smacking Zoro’s hand away. “What are you doing?” he snapped.

“At least your lungs sound clear now,” the incubus confirmed blandly, sighing. “We need to keep moving,” he muttered, walking briskly in a random direction.

Sanji hesitated as he realized his chest no longer ached, his cough was gone, and he could actually see.

“Oi, what did you do?” Sanji asked as he caught up to him, ducking to miss a low hanging branch. 

“First aid,” Zoro shrugged, picking up the pace. 

“I didn't realize you could do that. I thought…” Sanji trailed off.

“...that I would feed on someone who is choking?” Zoro finished angrily. He stopped and roughly grabbed the cook by his collar. 

“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t do that kind of shit?!” he shouted harshly. 

“I thought you were trying to comfort me or something. It would have been weird even if you were human!” Sanji yelled back, scraping Zoro’s hand off of his shirt and pushing him away.

The incubus jerked back and hissed, clutching his chest. The cook gaped in horror as he opened his own hand to see it was slick with blood. On closer inspection, he saw that Zoro’s dark-colored shirt was soaked in it.

“I'm fine,” Zoro said as he regained his composure. “It heals.”

“You got shot and didn't tell me?!” Sanji flared, his face hot with anger. 

The incubus shrugged, stifling a wince at the movement.

“Let me see it,” the cook ordered more gently, his curly eyebrows pushed together with open worry.

Their heads turned as shouts echoed from close behind. 

“I’m done running,” Zoro growled as his swords shivered into existence, the hazy blue energy swirling up and down their lengths.

“Quick question, marimo. Are you still keeping your options open to give your position to Luffy? Because if so, you might not want to attack a bunch of humans who are just doing their job if you don't have to. I’m sure the media is covering all of this,” Sanji said calmly, wiping his hand off with some leaves as he spoke. “Plus I don't think you're up to another encounter with the cops,” he added.

“What are you, my advisor?!” Zoro grumbled, dissipating the blades.

“You're just giving a lot of people hope right now,” Sanji said softly.

“How the hell do you know that?” the green-haired man demanded.

The howls of more sirens soared over the trees.

“Because I have a data plan. Now let’s get out of here,” the cook urged, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he climbed down an embankment into the deep shadows of the dense forest.


	5. Chapter 5

They spent the day dodging the patrols combing the woods for them and trying to figure out just where the hell they were with no cell service in the middle of nowhere. Zoro's phone frustratingly got left behind in the attack, and now all he could think of was getting in touch with Luffy to tell him what happened.

They miraculously were able to remain undetected by ducking into some brush just as a large patrol of police, including some powerful-looking incubi, nearly intersected paths with them. The two shaken fugitives found natural shelter in a shallow, partially obscured cave under a rock ledge and hid while they waited for the sun to set.

"I wonder how the police found us," Sanji thought aloud, picking a few prickly burrs off of his clothing as he smoked his third cigarette in the last 20 minutes.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "I don't have to wonder. It wouldn't take much to send Luffy and his brother out, then call in a little report and hope the other human comes out clean in the wash," he said caustically.

"Oi, you better not be talking about Dadan-san!" Sanji warned, stomping towards the incubus with balled fists.

"It's just a little too damn suspicious! This kind of thing has happened to me before. When you have a secret like mine, you get betrayed by the people you never expected would do it! Hell, you could betray me!" Zoro raised his voice, gesturing irately at the cook.

Sanji squinted at him. "Then why have anyone around? Go live in the fucking woods under a rock or something!" he yelled back, throwing his hand back at the cave they occupied.

"Unfortunately, I'd starve without people around," Zoro exhaled slowly as his anger began to fade. He sat down, leaning against the cold rock wall.

As the cook calmed down, his eye fell on the incubus's chest. "How's your bullet wound?" he asked.

"Fine," Zoro said stiffly.

"I meant show it to me. Your fine and my fine mean different things," Sanji muttered, looming over him impatiently.

Zoro gave a beleaguered sigh and pulled his shirt off, exposing the wicked scar that cut across his entire chest.

"How did you get that?" the cook asked with keen curiosity.

"Ten years ago, someone really wanted me dead," he replied bitterly.

"You mean...the murders?" Sanji cursed under his breath as Zoro gave a nod.

"But I thought that incubi and succubi didn't get scars like that because they healed," he said with concern, pulling a hand through his honey-colored hair.

"When we're nearly cut all the way through, we do," Zoro numbly told him, moving to change the subject.

"Here's that bullet wound you were crying about," he grumbled, pointing to a small hole just below his collarbone. Although it was still bleeding a bit, it appeared that the skin around the wound was beginning to draw together to cover it.

The cook blew out a curl of smoke. "It looks fine enough for an incubus, I guess. Probably hurts like hell," he said, his gaze sweeping over Zoro's sculpted torso as he pulled his shirt back on.

"Not enough to worry about," the incubus replied indifferently.

Sanji shrugged and sat down across from him, hugging his knees. "It's gotten colder. Wish we could start a fire," he commented after a while, rubbing his legs.

Zoro grunted in response. Before he could stop it, his mind came up with a handful of ways that he could get the cook warm that probably would not be appreciated in reality.

He relaxed in comfortable silence with Sanji, closing his eyes and listening to the wind howl in low tones across the mouth of their shelter. Sleep crept up on him as his plan to shut his eyes for a just few moments turned into a long, drooling nap. It was a few hours later when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Oi," Sanji said, shaking him. "The sun set. Let's get someplace high so we can see where the city is," he whispered.

"Alright," the incubus groaned, standing up stiffly.

The conversation on the way to higher ground alternated between indignant bickering that inevitably grew in volume and angry shushing as they tried and failed to stay quiet while they were this annoyed at the other.

Zoro impatiently guided Sanji's footing in the darkness as the cook led them up crumbling shale paths to a high, rocky overlook where they could see the distant golden lights of the city over the treetops to help orient themselves.

They also saw several helicopters scouring the forest with spotlights.

"If they have infrared, we're screwed," Zoro muttered, crossing his arms as he watched them systematically scan the area.

"You'd think infrared would be the kind of thing they'd spring for when looking for the biggest threat to their throne, marimo," Sanji chuckled darkly.

"You're enjoying this," Zoro said disapprovingly.

"Well, I haven't had a day off or went camping in ages," the cook replied snarkily.

"Asshole. So we walk to the city then?" the incubus asked.

"Or 'borrow' a car," Sanji shrugged. "We are wanted fugitives after all."

* * *

They made good time through the forest with Sanji's uncanny sense of direction and Zoro's night vision, then appropriated a rickety car from the first farm they came upon. It stunk of gas fumes, but it had a three quarters tank of fuel and wheels. Sanji sped through the bends and turns of the windy roads back to the urban sprawl of the city.

"Alright marimo, where to? Everyone I know is probably being watched," Sanji said as he moved the stick shift into a higher gear.

"I have someone, but it will cost us," Zoro exhaled heavily.

"Well I don't have any cash, but I can forward money online, depending how much. I know that you don't have any damn money," the cook replied flatly.

"If you don't watch it, you won't either. Trust me, a guy like you would willingly shell out your whole bank account to her," the incubus warned.

They eventually found the place in the back of a quiet, well-to-do neighborhood with Zoro's meandering directions, then abandoned the car behind a defunct gas station and made the long walk back.

"She's a succubus, so don't let her feed off of you, don't try to cook for her, just let me do the talking, alright? If the price was right, she'd turn us in," Zoro cautioned.

They climbed the steps onto the porch, which was dominated by a forest of miniature potted citrus trees that flavored the area with the scent of tangerine zest.

"So you're trying to say she's beautiful," Sanji presumed with a cheesy grin on his face as Zoro rang the doorbell of the large home.

"Just keep your head screwed on, damn it," he said sharply as the heavy door swung open.

"I thought I would be seeing you soon, considering all of the news reports," the gorgeous, orange-haired woman who opened the door purred as she hugged Zoro, her breasts squishing against his chest. She wore a form-fitting Crimin shirt and tight jeans, and Sanji was practically salivating.

"And you brought me something to eat, too!" she exclaimed and clapped her hands together, turning to examine the cook.

"And who are you, my most beautiful lady?" Sanji crooned as he kissed her hand.

Zoro roughly shoved him inside. "What did I tell you, idiot curly brow?!" he snapped.

Nami was on her apparent gift in an instant, her fingers trailing over his chest, taking a sliver of energy off of him to sample. Sanji groaned and tried to kiss her, but she casually shoved her hand in his face.

"Very nice, Zoro. I might even knock a Beli or two off your tab for this," she said.

"Hands off. He's not for eating," Zoro crossed his arms, glaring at her.

"Why not? He obviously wants it," she teased, allowing the cook to grip her waist as she pulled him closer with a tangle of her energy, all the while staring at Zoro.

The incubus's eyes fixed dispassionately on the scene, noting the leaves clinging to Sanji's clothes, the slight sunburn on his cheeks, his eyes dark with exhaustion.

"Damn it, he hasn't eaten or drank anything for most of the day, he's hiked miles through the woods and would be passed out right now if not for his stupid libido. He's in no condition to donate," Zoro said brusquely.

"You're jealous," Nami smirked.

"I'm not jealous!" he angrily insisted.

"I see how it is," Nami chuckled. "For 10,000 Beli I'll leave him alone," she announced, nothing but business at the moment.

The incubus stared her down, then shifted his gaze to Sanji, who was leaning heavily against a chair as he came out of Nami's daze.

"Put it on my tab," he sighed, slumping in defeat.

"Nice doing business with you," she said as she gave a knowing smile to the cook, who had just regained his senses and was giving the incubus a quizzical glare.

"You haven't changed a bit since I left. You don't know what it means to take responsibility for anything except your own pocketbook," Zoro growled harshly, stomping around them and climbing the staircase with familiarity.

"Oi! You be nice to a lady, marimo!" Sanji yelled, about to chase after him.

"Let him go," Nami said calmly, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

Sanji reached up and gently squeezed her hand, and a trickle of blood ran out of his nose.

Nami rolled her eyes, withdrawing her arm. "This is why it's going to cost him ten grand," she muttered, scowling at the inferno of energy ripe for the taking blazing around the cook.

Zoro found his old room and flopped back on the bed, exhausted. He knew he should have just let them do what they wanted. Besides, this would probably be the perfect safe house for Sanji to stay while he went on to find Luffy. The cook would really enjoy himself here, he thought sourly.

"Zoro!" Nami called from downstairs. "You had better come see this!"

The green-haired man reluctantly joined them in the living room, where the news was playing on the big screen TV. Sanji sat on the very edge of Nami's designer sofa, his nervous eye fixed to the report.

Zoro read the news ticker underneath the reporter who was on the scene and silhouetted by a fiery building in the background, and his whole body instantly became as a stiff as stone, his hands clenched into shaking fists.

"I can't believe it. They actually found the Revolutionary Army's Headquarters," Nami said in awe.

"And blew it up," Sanji added, stealing a glance at the incubus.

"Luffy," Zoro whispered, his eyes glued to the screen.

"Sanji tells me that your friends were going there?" the orange-haired woman frowned, her warm brown eyes full of worry.

Zoro nodded gravely.

They watched for a while, but the reporters didn't have any more information about the devastating explosion and blaze just yet as fire crews were still dousing the inferno. There were also no mention of casualties or arrests either, and as the reporters began to repeat themselves, Nami grabbed the remote and turned it off.

"It is four in the morning and any number of things could happen tomorrow. Sanji, find yourself something to eat, then you both are going to sleep," she ordered, grabbing her cell phone off the counter and hurriedly texting.

The green-haired man stared after Sanji in a daze, who was busying himself cooking dinner from the scraps Nami had in her pantry, obviously pleased he was making food in the beautiful woman's kitchen.

"Want something to eat?" the cook automatically asked Zoro as he came around the breakfast bar. "Never mind, habit," he quickly explained with a hint of disappointment.

"It's alright," the incubus mumbled, grabbing a bottle of beer from the fridge.

"Nami-swan! Do you want me to cook something for you?!" he frantically called over to her with a dopey grin, waving his arms.

"I don't eat human food," she waved him off without looking up from her screen.

"I'm going to bed. I'll let you two sleep in unless I hear about something else horrible happening," the succubus yawned, disappearing to her bedroom.

Sanji managed to put together some sort of pasta dish that looked way more expensive than the cans the ingredients came out of. He took a seat next to Zoro at the counter.

"I'm sure Luffy is fine," Sanji told him.

Zoro's expression didn't betray any emotion as he nodded in response.

"Nami said that you're her adopted brother," the cook said, his voice staving off the awkward silence.

"Yeah, all of us were orphans with nowhere to go. Bellemere was a police lieutenant, and she took in all of us secretly. She already had Nami and her sister by the time I entered the picture," he explained.

"Wait...Nami-san has a sister?!" Sanji asked excitedly, a gleam in his eye.

"Idiot," Zoro said, rolling his eyes.

"Where is your adopted mother now?" the cook asked, picking up his plate to wash in the sink.

"Gone. She died protecting us," Zoro said dismally, taking a long pull from his beer.

"I'm sorry," Sanji replied.

"We should go to bed," the incubus said, tossing his empty bottle in the trash with a shrill clank.

Zoro rifled through his disused dresser to find t-shirts and sweatpants that looked halfway clean that they could sleep in. It felt heavenly to change clothes, and although a shower would have been even better, Zoro was so exhausted that he just gave Sanji a stack of clothes and pointed him to the guest room down the hall before passing out in his old bed.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Zoro found Nami watching the news when he went downstairs.

"Morning. The major news is reporting over 50 casualties in the explosion, but human news sources are saying it's more like 10 or 20. There apparently have been a lot of arrests, too, but no names have been released as of yet. Lucci is claiming responsibility, saying they followed the Emerald Prince to his evil lair. Congratulations on becoming an official of the Revolutionary Army, by the way," Nami concluded her update with a snicker.

"So I'm evil now," Zoro grunted, settling down on the couch. "Any word on Luffy?" he asked anxiously.

She shook her head. "I've called a donor of mine who will probably know what is actually going on. He'll be here soon, and I'm paying him to feed you since your aura looks like crap right now. Don't think I didn't notice all of the blood last night," she chided him.

"Bullet wound. Pretty much healed," he said with a shrug.

"I'm also charging you twice what he costs plus interest," she said smugly, uncrossing and recrossing her legs.

"How generous," he said flatly, but in reality, he was getting hungry and didn't want a repeat of what nearly happened with Sanji the other night. He just hoped that Nami's donor could be trusted, because he would most likely be recognized.

"Is this guy going to turn me in the second he leaves?" Zoro asked.

Nami shrugged. "I know he sometimes takes information instead of money, so it seems like he knows a lot of secrets. Whether he keeps them, who knows?" she laughed lightly, relishing the scowl on the sulking incubus's face.

"You have to play to win, Zoro," the orange-haired succubus reminded him.

"Wonderful. Perfect donor for you. I bet he never charges you with your loud mouth," Zoro grumbled under his breath.

He heard a soft scuff on the carpet as Sanji appeared on the landing of the stairs, freshly showered and wearing the old dress clothes that Zoro had set out for him. The dark gray shirt, black tie, and suit coat he had worn for Bellemere's funeral didn't look half bad on the cook.

"Good morning, Nami-swan! Any news?" Sanji inquired cheerfully, sauntering down the stairs and digging through the fridge for breakfast ingredients, unable to resist the urge to cook for a beautiful woman, even one who wouldn't be eating it.

The doorbell rang while Nami was repeating her explanation of the conflicting reports for the cook.

When she opened the door, a black-haired man with tattoos on his arms and dark circles under his eyes stepped in. He spotted Zoro immediately, and a sly smile crept across his face.

"I didn't realize I would be servicing the Emerald Prince, Nami-ya," he said with a gleam in his eye.

Sanji appraised the newcomer from the kitchen. "Who is that?" he whispered to Zoro.

"No clue," the green-haired man said back.

"Guys, this is Trafalgar Law. It looks like you are already familiar with Zoro, and this is his friend Sanji," Nami introduced them.

"Have you heard what happened to my friend Luffy and his brother Sabo? They were supposed to be with the Revolutionaries when the explosion happened," Zoro impatiently asked him.

"Roronoa-ya," Law said smoothly, using his throne name. "Let's get the business I came here for out of the way, and then we can discuss that." He started up the stairs, pausing to make sure the incubus was following.

Sanji glowered at the tattooed man as Zoro reluctantly got up and fell in behind him.

As soon as they disappeared, the cook snatched his cigarette pack from the counter and escaped out to the back porch to smoke.

Nami peeked her head out the sliding glass door. "You ok?" she asked.

"I'm alright, my dear. Worried about my old man," Sanji told her, taking a long draw off his cigarette. "But I'm better with your pretty face around," he added with a boyish grin, his eye sweeping over her.

Nami squinted at him, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm sure you are," she muttered with a bored inflection. "You might ask Law if one of his contacts has heard anything," she offered.

"Can we trust this guy, Nami-san?" the cook asked, his voice steeped in worry.

"Depends. Law hates the current monarchy, and I've heard from a reliable source that he has his own plans to move against the palace. Zoro will need someone with Law's network of spies and information gathering skills if he wants to take the throne, which is the only way he's ever paying me back," the succubus said, clasping her hands together like she were praying as visions of cash filled her eyes like a shower of falling cherry blossoms.

"Think of all the treasure in the palace!" she exclaimed jubilantly, making Sanji's heart melt a little.

The cook cleared his throat as he remembered the concern he had been about to bring up.

"You didn't tell him Zoro would be here, right? It just seemed to me like Law was pretending to be surprised, that he was expecting him all along. And then he insists on screwing him the second he walks in the door with barely a hello, like he's trying to get him to drop his guard or something, not that it's any of my business," he huffed, taking a hard puff of smoke.

Nami squinted at Sanji, her eyes slightly out of focus as she studied the unseen energies that radiated from his body. A mischievous grin spread across her face.

"You know, the only reason that he's up there with Law right now is because he's hungry. That's it. He's just eating food. You're not up there because you're not food to him. And as tasty as you are, that's no small thing. We don't feed on those we care about the same way as random donors," she reassured him with a wink.

"What?! It's nothing like that, Nami-san! I think you misunderstood me!" he blurted out, nearly dropping his cigarette.

"I wouldn't bet on it," she laughed playfully, ducking back in and closing the door.

Sanji leaned heavily on the railing of the deck, shaking slightly. He decided to blame the burn of his cheeks on the chill of the morning air.

* * *

They came back down in a shorter amount of time than Sanji had predicted. He thought that Zoro's color looked better, his movement more energetic. Law looked about the same as he did before, but it was hard to tell with his drab and serious nature. They all found a seat in the living room to talk.

"First of all, I have something to show you both," Law announced, fishing some folded papers out of his pants pocket. He uncrinkled them and handed them to Zoro.

"Our arrest warrants," the incubus muttered as he thumbed through the documents.

"So you did know we'd be here in advance," Sanji said coldly.

Zoro froze as he got to Sanji's warrant. He met Law's steady grey eyes for some kind of explanation.

"This can't be right," Zoro said, letting Sanji snatch the papers out of his hand.

"Execute on sight? What the hell did I do?!" the cook exclaimed.

"Luffy-ya has a similar one as well. They're forcing you to make your move, Roronoa-ya. The authorities want you to show yourself so they can capture you and take the Conqueror's Haki that's been eluding them. That is why they've moved against the Revolutionary Army and your friends. They think you'll have no support system, and that's where they're mistaken. There are many who are moving against King Lucci and his allies who are not Revolutionaries," Law hinted.

The tattooed man's haggard eyes were like coals as his intense stare burned into the Prince. "I need your help, and if you choose to help me, I'll use my resources to locate your friends," he said, dangling the bait.

"You seem like the kind of guy who does pretty well without help," Zoro said gruffly.

"If I could do this myself, I would. That's why I want to form an alliance with you," Law told him.

Zoro laughed under his breath. "You're the type would would screw over his own mother if it got you what you wanted. No thanks," the incubus snarled.

"All I need is to get into certain parts of the palace that I can't access right now, doors that only you, the current bearer of the Conqueror's Haki, can open. Unlock these sealed doors for me, and I'll find your friends in exchange," the grim man explained.

"Zoro. Listen to me very carefully, because this is important," Nami interrupted. She took in a deep breath.

"The palace has a lot of treasure, so if you ever want to pay me back, you better go find some of it for me, alright?" she told him with deadly seriousness.

"The Royal Treasury was one of my stops," Law said, nodding. "Surely you want something from there for yourself, perhaps a family heirloom?"

Zoro hummed, thinking hard, his face scrunched up as he struggled to account for all of the factors. His eyes darted over to the fast-thinking cook, who was calmly watching him from an oversized armchair with a regal air.

He got up and lightly kicked Sanji's shoe, motioning for him to follow.

"I'm going to have a talk with my advisor," the incubus told Law, leading the confused cook up to his bedroom.

Sanji gave him an unimpressed look as he surveyed Zoro's disheveled room. "Why the hell am I up here, marimo?" he asked.

Zoro grimaced, mentally asking himself that same question as he started to regret asking for this smart ass's help.

"I need someone else's take on this," he explained.

"Ha. You've never given a damn about my opinion before," the cook said in a snarky tone.

The incubus took in a generous breath. "Look. This is a shitty situation that could go very badly for me. I just need you to not be a dick for five minutes," he said, anxiously rubbing a hand across his forehead.

Sanji's eyebrow twitched. "Fine. What do you want from me?" he huffed.

"What do you think about what he said?" the incubus asked him.

Sanji seemed to look right through Zoro as he paused in thought. "This guy is really sketchy. I'd like to know how he knew we were here before he even came over. As for his offer, I wouldn't step foot in the palace again unless you are planning on reclaiming your birthright. I've been wondering about that myself - are you going to go for the throne?" he asked evenly.

"I've never wanted anything to do with it," Zoro said forcefully, then he sighed, relenting.

"But it seems like these assholes who are chasing me won't stop until I'm dead, and if Luffy became King, things would change for the better. Plus I'm going to have fix things so you can go back to the Baratie or else you'll bitch at me for the rest of eternity," the green-haired man said, giving the cook a beleaguered frown.

Sanji's gaze jumped up to search Zoro's eyes as Nami's words on the deck echoed through his brain.

"Since when do you give a shit about me?" the cook responded, his spiral eyebrows drawing together.

"No, you're right, curly brow. I don't care. I'm really doing this so I can finally join that yacht club," Zoro replied acidly.

"Will you shut up?!" Sanji hissed. "We don't have time for this. I'll take that as a yes then, you're going to do it. What a way to announce it, asshole," he grumbled.

The incubus shrugged. "What now?"

"I guarantee you he already knows where Luffy and Sabo are since he seems so confident about finding them. Make him tell you that first before you make the alliance, because what he's offering isn't enough for you to go risk your life, although paying back Nami-san would be a really good idea," the cook advised.

Zoro rolled his eyes.

"You need to argue for something more since Law is definitely getting the better deal right now. There must be something awfully important behind those sealed doors if he wants to sneak into the palace for it. This would be the perfect setup for a trap, having you voluntarily walk into the place that's most dangerous for you."

"However, if he has the intelligence gathering skills Nami-san says he does, they would be absolutely necessary for success in reclaiming your throne. It also seems like he's skirting around the fact that he has allies that are also against Lucci, and you need all the help you can get if you're really going to do this," Sanji told him.

"So I have to play to win," Zoro mused, absentmindedly cupping his chin.

Sanji nodded. "You have to decide if he can actually get you that information, if you can use those allies, and if it's worth the risk of him possibly turning on you," he said.

As Zoro considered that, he realized he had never really taken anything the cook said to heart like this before. He had to admit that he was perhaps a little more intelligent than he had given him credit for.

They went downstairs to finish up with Law, now ready for battle.


	7. Chapter 7

"Well, Roronoa-ya?" Law greeted impatiently as Zoro and Sanji rejoined them.

Zoro set his jaw as he sank back down into his armchair, his eyes rekindled with the spark that Sanji had ignited in him.

"Your deal isn't good enough. I could find Luffy on my own. If you're going to ask me to go back into that viper's nest, I'm going to need something more from you," the incubus firmly told him.

"Like what?" Law furrowed his eyebrows, leaning forward as he templed his ink-kissed fingers.

"If I'm going to be able to take the throne and give it to Luffy, I'm going to need the intelligence and resources to do it," the incubus explained.

"I see," Law muttered, glaring at the floor as he considered his options.

"Fine. I lead a crew of highly trained individuals, but our help will only go so far as to gain you access to the palace and to give you accurate information," he said sourly, annoyed that he had to concede more than he planned to the incubus.

"That in exchange for your sealed doors. Before we shake on it, I want you to tell me where my friends are first," Zoro demanded, crossing his arms stubbornly.

The corners of Sanji's mouth twitched in secret approval.

The raven-haired man exhaled. "I have them, but they are both injured from the explosion. Luffy especially could benefit from an incubus's energy," he told him.

"Are they even getting care?!" Zoro yelled, suddenly on his feet.

"I'm a doctor," the tattooed man replied, ignoring the outburst.

"Law put himself through medical school by selling energy," Nami casually interjected.

With that, Zoro seemed to calm down a little. "One last thing. I'll be your ally, but only if the alliance extends to Luffy," he said solidly.

"Of course. Our alliance will extend to our subordinates so long as they working towards the goals we outline," Law agreed, then extended his hand.

Zoro locked onto Law's gray eyes, his own stare smoldering like red hot steel.

"If you betray me, you'd better make sure I'm dead, for your sake," he threatened, capturing Law's hand in a firm grip and shaking it. His new ally gave him a faint, amused smile.

"Now take me to Luffy," the incubus growled.

* * *

Zoro was preparing to leave with Law when he noticed Sanji brooding out on the deck with his back to him, his lean body sheltering the weak flame of his cigarette from the wind.

The green-haired man opened the sliding glass door.

"Well, I'm going to get going. Give my regards to the old man when you see him," Zoro said to the cook's back.

"When I find him, I'm going to kick his ass for hiring the damn incubus Prince," Sanji replied, not turning around.

"You couldn't kick his ass in a million years, cook," Zoro taunted, smirking as Sanji glowered at him over his shoulder.

"See you later," the incubus said glumly, knowing that it would be a long time before he saw Sanji again. He wondered why the hell that fact suddenly mattered to him at all.

Zoro slid the door shut, giving Law a nod across the room to indicate that he was ready.

The door to the deck abruptly rolled back open.

"I'm coming with," the cook announced as if he had just made the decision that instant.

The incubus raised an eyebrow. "Thought you'd want to stay with the lady, curly brow."

"I would, but Nami-san told me she isn't going to babysit someone she can't feed off of. Thanks a lot for that deal you made with her, by the way. Really saved me," the cook grumbled, his voice flat with sarcasm.

"Anyway, I can't go home, I can't stay here, and I don't know where the shitty geezer is. Might as well tag along for now," he told him with a shrug.

"I guess Luffy will be happy to see you," Zoro replied indifferently, trying to downplay his relief.

Law led them to the garage, where he pulled in his black SUV, stopping Zoro and Sanji before they got in. He went to the back and opened the rear hatch, reaching inside and folding down the back row of seats.

"I want you to lay down in the back. Security was tight when I was driving over, and we are going to go right back into their search area," Law explained, leaving no room for argument.

The two coworkers exchanged an uneasy look but crawled in and laid down. The doctor threw a light camping blanket over them, secured the hatch, and began to drive.

"Where are you taking us?" Sanji asked from underneath the blanket.

"To the waterfront," Law answered. "Now be quiet," he said.

As his new ally drove, Zoro's eye lingered on Sanji's softly defined features in the dim light filtering through the thin material. The cook seemed to be somewhere distant, engrossed in thoughts that Zoro could almost see bubbling right underneath the surface.

Law took a fast corner and Sanji was flung roughly into Zoro, his face smashing against his chest. The incubus grabbed the blond man's arm to steady him.

"Law, want to drive a little better?!" Sanji called up front as he smacked Zoro off of him.

"Quit distracting me! I turned around to avoid a police roadblock but they saw me and now I have three of them following me!" he yelled back irritably. Zoro heard overlapping sirens getting closer behind them.

A second later, the car came to a sudden, rattling stop as Law executed a tight u-turn, then floored it. Without seat belts, his passengers felt every bit of pull from the G-forces as they collided, their bodies flying towards the incubus's side of the SUV.

The cook's panicked breaths warmed Zoro's cheek as the vehicle whined, reaching high speeds. Sanji cursed as the buzz of a highway rumble strip purred from under the tires, indicating that their driver was most likely passing people on the highway using the shoulder.

The SUV suddenly slowed, pulling into a wide, fast turn that flung them both to the other side of the vehicle from the heavy centrifugal force. Zoro lashed his arms around Sanji from behind, his warm grip preventing them both from flailing around. Sanji's hands came up and gripped the incubus's arms to his chest.

_"Room! Shambles!"_ the incubus heard Law call out, and for a moment everything became eerily quiet, as if the vehicle was suspended in mid air. Then the entire weight of the car slammed painfully back down on the pavement, like they had been flying and suddenly dropped out of the sky. Sanji grunted at the jarring landing, digging his fingers into Zoro's forearm.

As their speed evened out, the flustered cook roughly shoved the incubus away, blushing vibrantly.

"Get off!" Sanji hissed under his breath.

"I didn't do anything!" Zoro angrily whispered back, his heart pounding out of control.

For a man who literally ate sex for breakfast, he had to wonder why an unintentional touch or two was dwarfing the fear of dying in a fiery wreck.

* * *

Law parked the SUV and let his shaken passengers out in an decaying garage that looked like it used to be an old repair shop.

"I am never riding with you ever again!" Sanji griped at Law, lighting a cigarette with unsteady fingers.

"Would you rather I had stopped and let them arrest us?!" he returned with annoyance.

As they crabbed at each other, Zoro peeked out of the grimy windows and saw what looked like a forgotten dock of the marina on the bad side of town. A bright yellow, sleek-looking trawler stood out like a fishing bobber rocking in the water. The name etched on the prow read _Polar Tang._

"That yours?" Zoro asked, cocking a thumb at it. "It's very subtle," he smugly commented.

"Shut up," the dark-haired man snapped half-heartedly, distracted as he fished through what looked like a case of medical supplies in the passenger seat.

Sanji narrowed his eyes as he analyzed their position from the window. "That's a long way to walk without being seen," he said with concern.

"That's why we're not walking there. _Room,_ " Law breathed, and a thin blue film filled the garage and stretched outwards, sinking into the yellowed walls.

In an instant, they appeared in the compact dining area of the boat, and Zoro gripped onto a table to keep from falling over.

"Oi, couldn't you have warned us you were about to use your creepy Devil Fruit power?!" he shouted at him.

"I don't have all day to explain things to you, Roronoa-ya. You want to see your friends, correct? Follow me," Law told him brusquely, disappearing into the bowels of the ship.

They followed him until they reached a bedroom that had been outfitted with various medical machines.

Sabo was seated in a chair beside the bed looking pretty rough, the left side of his face and eye completely bandaged. He looked up tiredly as they entered.

Luffy was bandaged from nearly head to toe, lying motionless on the bed. He was hooked up to a breathing tube, and an obscene amount of drips and wires branched from his body.

Zoro was instantly at his side, his mouth set into a firm, hard line as he stared at his friend's still form, his mind a raging torrent beneath a seemingly calm exterior.

Luffy had been there for him when no one else had. After Bellemere had died, his and Nami's relationship exploded into constant fighting and blaming. Not even the cool-headed Nojiko could prevent Nami from throwing a combative, self-destructive Zoro out of the house. The sixteen year old incubus was on the streets again, selling his underage body to feed.

One particularly cold, desperate night, the hungry incubus pulled a young man into a deserted corner of the subway station and tried to feed off of him, only to find he was Anathema.

Zoro had laughed cynically, cursing the boy before collapsing on the ground in front of him.

But rather than call the cops, Luffy took him home. He bathed the dirty teen while he was still unconscious, wrapped him in his bathrobe, and called his brother Ace with a huge favor. Then he let Zoro live with him indefinitely.

He later told Zoro he took him in because could see the guilt and sadness in his desperate eyes. Luffy was sure the incubus was a kind person that had been pushed to the brink.

He was right as usual.

After Ace died shortly after, Luffy went into a deep depression, losing his job and his will to live. Zoro began working at a particular five star restaurant washing dishes, and they managed to keep their small apartment while Luffy recovered.

They were in each other's debt, but they had also cemented an unbreakable lifetime bond.

Zoro looked up and found Law.

"You said it was ok?" he asked quietly.

The doctor nodded. "He's doing so poorly that any strength you could give him couldn't hurt," he bluntly told him.

Zoro found a chair and scooted close to Luffy. He took a serious look around the room. "Just so you know, I'm going to let down my glamour so I can concentrate on this," he warned.

Law simply turned around and left the room, and Sabo was getting up.

"What does that mean?" Sanji asked Sabo as he passed by.

"Most incubi and succubi put a damper on themselves to conceal their true appearance and prevent humans from getting inadvertently drawn in. It's not impossible to resist, but it will probably be a little too intense for me at the moment. I don't think he would do anything to hurt Luffy," Sabo said softly, taking a long look back at his brother before exiting the room.

"What are you going to do?" Sanji asked Zoro.

"What I did for your cough earlier, but more. Much more," he replied, raising an eyebrow at the curious cook, who was standing still undecided in the doorway.

Zoro gestured towards Sabo's chair on the other side of the bed. "If you can stay in that seat, then you can watch. If you get up or start distracting me, you have to leave," the incubus told him.

The cook nodded in agreement and sat, watching as Zoro gently touched a patch free of medical devices on Luffy's arm. A faint, delicately glowing light formed in the green-haired man's hand and sank into Luffy's skin. That was when he could no longer hold the glamour.

Zoro, in his ratty jeans and faded t-shirt that he had scavenged from his old room, now looked to Sanji like he had stepped off of the red carpet at the Oscars. All of his features were the same, but his body seemed more defined and sculpted, his skin smoother, and his green hair looked like it had been perfectly styled to look just messy enough to be roguish. His eyes which were normally an indistinguishable, darkish color were now a soft pearl gray.

The cook's jaw dropped as his gaze stumbled over two folded jet black wings peeking over the incubus's shoulders, rising and falling with his breathing.

"Wings?" Sanji managed to sputter, clinging to the chair with an iron grip.

"Well duh, I'm an incubus," Zoro scoffed. He didn't move from his task as he gave a wicked grin, slightly unfolding his massive wings, his shirt and hoodie pushed up over them where they met his back. His luminescent eyes shot up to watch the cook's reaction.

Sanji fidgeted, no longer able to concentrate on the energy donation that had been interesting and sobering moments before. He was turned on, all colors flying at full mast.

He found himself hovering above his seat and forced himself to sit back down. All this horniness was mortifying in front of the egotistical incubus, and he reminded himself that this was still the aggravating bus boy who did nothing but get under his skin and mess up his carefully organized kitchen. The cook forced himself to avoid looking at Zoro and watch Luffy only.

"I'm surprised you're not already over here," Zoro said smugly, his deep voice smooth and velvety.

"Now you're distracting me, asshole," Sanji growled, sucking in a breath.

The incubus cursed as the power he was feeding Luffy began to grow dimmer. His face looked a little pale as he drew back his hand, momentarily pausing as he cloaked himself again in his human glamour, his inky black wings gone in an instant.

"Shit!" he softly swore, dragging a hand down his face.

Sanji breathed out a sigh of relief. The spell had been broken.

"What's wrong?" the cook asked.

"It's where I haven't been eating enough!" the incubus said in frustration. "I'm going to see if Law feels like doing me a favor," Zoro muttered under his breath, moving his chair out as he stood, casting a tight frown at the unconscious young man.

Sanji watched Luffy, helpless and bathed in the glow of his monitors. The cook knew enough to know how bad some of his readings were.

"What exactly do you have to do to get more?" Sanji asked, keeping his expression neutral. "I mean physically," he clarified, swallowing hard.

Zoro narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. "It depends. The more excited someone is, the less I need to touch them," he explained.

"How excited does one have to be to need no touching at all?" Sanji gingerly asked.

"Ho ho. Is that an invitation? Because I know for a fact you can't handle it, so don't even bother asking, shit cook," the incubus said as he opened the door and headed up the narrow stairs to the bow.

Zoro came back alone a few minutes later and sat back down in his chair next to Luffy, crossing his arms grumpily.

"Figured he wouldn't," the cook said.

"Asshole," Zoro grumbled.

Sanji stood and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Luffy needs our help, marimo," he said quietly.

The incubus gave Sanji an irritated frown. "No. As soon I started taking your energy you'd just freak out and run. You can't handle it," he said dismissively.

"I don't run when a friend needs my help!" the cook snapped, throwing a finger over at Luffy. "He's not doing great, marimo!" he yelled, his voice filling the small space.

Zoro blinked, bewildered by Sanji's concern.

"It's going to be a lot more personal than just handing me a plate of rice, idiot," Zoro said, getting up and stalking towards him smoothly, like a predator.

"But if you still want to help him, come here."


	8. Chapter 8

Zoro had Sanji pull the other chair beside him and sit, then took a peek at the cold energy buffeting around him.

"Kiss me and I'll kick your ass," the cook threatened, his posture as tightly coiled as a snake ready to strike.

"And try not to touch me either," he added.

"Especially not in this area," Sanji added further, waving his hand in a wide circle above his lap.

The irked incubus's eyebrow twitched at the list of stipulations.

"Just shut up and give me your hand, crybaby," Zoro said, and the cook hesitantly placed his hand in the other man's.

Trying to affect him with the least amount of touching as requested, Zoro turned Sanji's hand over in his and began painting caresses with his fingertips on the inside of his wrist, stroking strategic pressure points to try to coax his aura to fill with sexual energy so he could draw from it. He felt a promising shudder from the cook at his touch.

The incubus brought their intertwined hands up to his lips, his hot breath tickling his skin as he placed a lust-filled kiss on his knuckles, his luminescent eyes glowing with the promise of pleasures penned like symphonies on a parchment of soft blankets.

Sanji yanked his arm back reflexively, a red blush dawning across his face.

Zoro stopped, giving a disapproving grunt.

"With you fighting me like this, I'd either have to fuck you or entrance you to get a steady stream of energy, and I don't think you'd like that," he said.

"Well you're not doing option number one! What's entrance?" Sanji asked, raising a curly eyebrow.

"Basically hypnotize. I could order you to kick a woman and you'd do it. It's more than likely how Spandam got you to quit fighting him. It's how most incubi feed, and I hate doing it," he said with disgust.

"Shit, I can see why," the cook murmured.

"If this is going to work without me forcing you, we're going to have to do it my way," Zoro told him.

Sanji took in a deep breath as one of Luffy's sensors blared unhappily behind them before going silent again. The cook stole a glance at the reading on the monitor with a deep frown.

"Shit. We're wasting time. Fine, do it your way, but my clothes stay on," the cook told him, squaring his shoulders.

"Fair enough, cook, I won't touch your clothes, but I can't promise you won't," he warned, his eyes gleaming like burnished silver as his human facade melted away.

Sanji parted his lips in an excited gasp at the sight of his real form, squeezing Zoro's hand so hard it ached as he still instinctively tried to resist him.

Almost. The cook was nearly there.

Zoro invaded Sanji's personal space, threading his fingers through his feathery blond hair as he smirked against the cook's ear.

"I didn't tell you this before, but you'll probably be begging me to fuck you before I'm through with you," Zoro whispered in a tickle of hot breath across his ear, the prediction making the cook's stomach flip as his aroused energy leapt towards the incubus like gasoline fed flames.

Zoro was in.

He grabbed Luffy's hand, forming a type of conduit between the humans. He gave the a cook a nod, then began to pull from his aura.

Sanji's life energy rolled over him like a cresting ocean wave, exhilarating in its wild, unyielding nature, overflowing with the strength he had earned from his hardships and delicately flavored like one of his exquisitely prepared dishes.

A single taste could tell an incubus a lot about someone, and as he savored Sanji's energy that was slowly becoming a part of him, he found himself curious about the person he had feuded with all of these years, whose life somehow tasted like pure beauty.

The energy blurring the air surrounding their hands flickered like dancing flames as the fuel of Sanji's overactive sex drive rushed into the incubus. The power then poured into Luffy, and the glow between the roommates began to brighten as the injured young man received an intense dose of restorative life energy.

Sanji moaned, desperately yanking his other hand through his hair as the sensation of the incubus's pull swept over his body.

"Fuck," the cook panted, squirming in his seat. His uncovered eye focused on Zoro's face from under heavy lashes, sheer desire electrifying his cobalt blue gaze.

"That look you're giving me is almost as good as your taste, cook," Zoro whispered in his throaty bedroom voice.

Completely drunk off of the incubus's power, Sanji gave Zoro a sultry, half-lidded stare as he climbed into his lap, threading his legs through the armholes of the chair so that he was straddling him in a very suggestive position.

Zoro let Sanji's hand slip out of his own as the cook reached for him, as he now had more than enough physical contact to keep drawing from him.

"Can you fly?" Sanji murmured in fluid tones, reaching around Zoro's back in an embrace and gently raking his fingers through his silky feathers as his lips grazed the nape of the other man's neck.

Zoro took in a quick breath of air, and the healing energy entering Luffy began to blaze like a miniature supernova.

He stifled a pleased groan as Sanji caressed the base of his wings with his slender fingers.

"Not really. They're just a throwback to another time," Zoro panted, closing his eyes at the soothing touch.

He cursed inwardly as he pursed his lips to muffle a moan. The cook just had to go straight for his weakness, he thought ruefully, getting lost in the warm strokes of his keen fingers where feathers met flesh.

The uninhibited cook began sucking and nibbling the incubus's neck, leaving tiny purpling bruises that disappeared as they were healed away. Sanji mercilessly exploited his observation of Zoro's reaction to his touch, as he massaged up and down his back, concentrating his efforts around the sensitive area where his wings emerged.

The incubus hissed a curse, sure the cook could hear his pulse going wild as he pushed his hand up of one of Sanji's thighs.

Zoro's eyes sprung open as he remembered what he was supposed to be focusing on. He adjusted his grip on Luffy's hand, double-checking to make sure that he was giving him more energy than he was keeping.

He suddenly recalled that Luffy was made of rubber, so he stretched his arm closer to him with a satisfied smirk. Now he had a little more leash to play with Sanji.

The incubus cradled the back of the spellbound cook's head as he brushed his mouth teasingly across his, relishing the weight of Sanji's impatient hands as he clawed two fistfuls of his t-shirt.

Zoro dove in to claim his lips, his mouth eagerly crushing against him as he set out to consume his body like his energy. Sanji groaned as he pushed back, his lips fiercely sweeping against Zoro's as he rode the incubus's clothed hard-on at a slow gallop.

The incubus grabbed more of the cook's energy, causing a tide of red hot ecstasy to flow through his body like a river of molten iron. The cook cursed into the kiss, his breaths ragged as he offered up his body like a feast for Zoro.

If only there were nothing between them, the incubus lamented.

Apparently Sanji had the same idea, as his shirt was unbuttoned and gone before Zoro realized it.

The incubus continued to devour their chain of unrelenting kisses as the hand not feeding energy into Luffy explored Sanji's bare chest.

The cook was lean, but that didn't mean he wasn't well-built. Zoro's fingers swept over the compact muscles rippling from underneath his skin, memorizing the areas he wasn't likely to be able touch again after the cook regained his senses.

"Get your fucking clothes off," the cook pulled back long enough to whisper before desperately fusing with Zoro's lips again.

The incubus briefly broke contact with Luffy to fling his t-shirt and hoodie to the floor. Sanji immediately set about running his fingertips over Zoro's scar while rocking pleasurably in his lap.

The incubus bit his lip, raising his hips up to meet Sanji's as he grabbed his waist, pulling the cook down to him at the crests of his thrusts. If Zoro didn't watch it, the cook was going to make him come right in his pants.

He couldn't remember a time in recent memory when he'd been this turned on while feeding. Right now, he wanted the cook in his bed, and he wanted him for pleasure, not food, which was an increasing rarity these days.

"You're going to be so pissed off later," Zoro laughed faintly, tracing the other man's cheek with his thumb.

Sanji wasn't the only one likely to regret this later.

For Zoro had seen something he desired in his hated rival, something unexpected. Something that would disappear like a dream chased away by the dawn as soon as he stopped feeding.

The incubus scooped Sanji up and laid him out on the floor next to the bed, his wings possessively sheltering him as he lowered his hips into the valley of his thighs, devouring thick ribbons of his energy. The cook let out a rich, resounding moan, his smooth tenor making Zoro try for an encore as he began to rub himself against Sanji's very obvious erection.

The cook's voice rang out even louder this time, and Zoro shut him up with another kiss. Sanji pulled him down to him by his bare shoulders, their warm, bare chests sliding together as he desperately bucked up against him.

"You were right, damn it," the cook panted as his hands dove down to unbutton the incubus's fly. "I can't stand this any longer," he pleaded.

"I want to," Zoro murmured, running a hand up the back of Sanji's thigh. "Shit, I want to. But you would never forgive me," he said, grabbing Sanji's wrist to stop him.

"Don't leave me like this," the cook desperately begged, snatching the incubus's hand and bringing it down to cover his cock that was straining against the fabric of his pants.

The incubus gave it a slow caress, marveling how even that little bit caused Sanji to arch his back and hum for him.

Zoro decided that after getting the cook this turned on, it would only be fair to get him off too. He playfully rounded the cook's pants button with his fingertip.

"The thing is, you didn't give me clothes-taking-off privileges," he grinned, his warm grey eyes half-lidded in wry amusement. "And that's too bad, because I was thinking giving you the best damn blowjob you've ever had," he said teasingly.

Sanji's eye widened, a pink hue spreading lightly across his cheeks. "I'll be the judge of that," he said as he opened his fly himself.

Zoro's hand was about the cross the threshold of the cook's open zipper when he suddenly felt a squeeze on his other hand. He threw his gaze over to the bed to find Luffy awake and sitting up. The scamp had even pulled out his breathing tube and had ripped off some of his other sensors and was giving him a tired grin.

All energy-related activities came to a halt, and he draped himself in his normal appearance as he lightly slapped Sanji's cheek to bring him back to his senses.

"Oi, cook. Cook. We did it," Zoro whispered, shaking him, trying not to be disappointed that Luffy was already up.

Sanji blinked as his vision came back into focus. He took one look down at where he had been presenting himself with open zipper to the incubus just seconds earlier then flew from underneath him.

"That's a lot more than holding my hand, asshole! You took advantage of me, shitty marimo!" Sanji yelled hatefully, gulping in heavy breaths, his eye still foggy with arousal. He lunged forward and swiped his leg at Zoro's head at full power, then winced as he realized how uncomfortable it was to stretch it like that while still embarrassingly hard.

"What do you think I meant when I said I wanted to do it my way?" the green-haired man griped as he ducked the angry kick, returning his attention to Luffy when he heard his amused laugh.

"I'm so hungry," the young man groaned, his voice a touch gravelly. "Hey, is Sanji your boyfriend now, Zoro?"

"No, idiot. You've seen me feed before. He was just helping me by donating some energy to you," Zoro explained, sitting down on the edge of the bed, trying in vain to ignore the fading sensation of the cook's lips.

"Yeah," Luffy grinned, "I have seen you feed. That's why I'm asking," he said slyly.

"I'll go get Law," Sanji huffed as he snatched his shirt off of the floor and stormed into the hall, his face red. The whole ship rocked as he slammed the door behind him. Zoro slipped his t-shirt over his shoulders, staring at the blank door with a concerned frown.

Luffy's face fell. "Where's Sabo? Is Sabo ok, Zoro?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm fine, Luffy," Sabo cheerfully announced as he and Law entered. Luffy stretched his arms out and the wavy-haired man came and collected a crushing hug from his little brother.

Law unwound some of the bandages over Luffy's chest and found that his very serious wound had miraculously started knitting itself together.

"You're out of danger, Luffy-ya," the doctor told him. "That's incredible. What did you do?" his piercing gray eyes focused on Zoro, who shifted uncomfortably as he tried to come up with a more suitable reply than 'I was really turned on this time.'

"It's because Zoro works really well with Sanji, he can use the energy better," Luffy answered easily. "I owe you guys for donating to me!" he exclaimed, turning to Law.

"And you too. You're our doctor, right? You really saved our lives, so thanks!" he said gratefully, looking up at the scowling man.

"Alright," Law muttered, crossing his arms and trying his best to ignore his patient.

"What happened with the explosion?" Zoro asked.

"We think that a large truck filled with explosives ran through the base's warehouse doors. Trafalgar found us afterwards and helped us escape," Sabo related, narrowing his eyes at the doctor.

"Although you never told us how you got there so fast," he commented coldly.

"I was in the area," Law replied without blinking.

"You knew," Sabo growled, rising to his feet.

"It's my business to know things, and to protect my own interests. Be thankful you're alive," Law countered.

Zoro's forehead wrinkled as he put two and two together. Law had saved the brothers to use as leverage for their alliance. Something damn important had to be behind those doors at the palace.

"It's ok," Luffy said firmly, getting out of bed with Zoro's help. He shuffled over to Law.

"I think Torao is a good person," the raven-haired boy declared, putting his hands on his hips.

"Good, because you're in an alliance with him," Zoro informed him.

"Torao?" Law asked, confused.

"You. You're Torao. I've never been in alliance before. Sounds like fun!" Luffy told him excitedly.

" _This_ is your successor?" the tattooed man asked pointedly, shooting a look at Zoro.

"Oi, Zoro! Am I really your successor? Are you going to do it?" Luffy asked enthusiastically.

The smiling incubus gave him nod, gaining a wide grin from his friend.

"I'm going to prepare us to move. I've arranged a meeting with the Revolutionary Army," Law told them, moving towards the door.

"Why?" Zoro questioned angrily.

"You said you wanted my resources and intel, Roronoa-ya. You didn't ask where they came from," Law replied. "And before you ask, no, I'm not a Revolutionary," he added, disappearing up the stairs.

"Sanji! I'm hungry!" Luffy whined, hobbling after the brooding man wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and bandages.

Zoro and Sabo followed after Luffy and found him seated in the dining area as Sanji cooked something delicious-smelling in the tiny galley adjacent to them.

The incubus raided the fridge and scored a beer for his trouble, then found himself lingering in the kitchen as he sipped it, noticing that it looked like Sanji was trying to stretch what little food supplies there were into this meal.

"Don't make me any," Zoro told him. Sanji stiffened and glared at him.

"Well, you're not getting any, because I already fed you!" he snipped. "And don't get the wrong idea. I did what I did back there because of your stupid power!" the cook huffed as he looked up, holding eye contact with disdain. "It's never happening again. I shouldn't have trusted you."

"Told you that you couldn't handle it," the incubus needled, taking a slow sip of his beer.


	9. Chapter 9

The boat began to move as Luffy and Sabo inhaled their food. Law made them turn off the lights inside, as patrols were still close by. Zoro watched through a porthole as the copper lights of the city illuminated bit by bit as night fell. He closed his eyes, still feeling Sanji's energy warmly lingering before it was fully absorbed by his body.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Law entering into the galley with a video frozen across the screen of his phone.

"Watch this," he said, his eyes hard on Zoro as he handed it to him. He disappeared back into the cabin to control the boat.

The four men crowded around. It was cued up to a picture of King Lucci in his characteristic black top hat talking behind a podium at a press conference. Zoro tapped the play button.

_"... now know that Prince Roronoa miraculously still lives, but he has become a key player in the deplorable Revolutionary Army. We now believe that both are responsible for assassinating the royal family ten years ago. We are offering a 320,000,000 Beli reward for information that leads to his capture."_

Zoro's picture from his arrest in front of the Baratie flashed on the screen. Sabo gave a low whistle at the astronomical amount.

_"We are also searching for these dangerous Revolutionaries."_

A mosaic of photos of people Zoro knew including Luffy, Sabo, Sanji, and Robin were splashed across the screen with their respective bounties. The video clip ended.

"I'm worth 177,000,000 Beli?!" Sanji blurted out.

"I have a huge bounty too!" Luffy exclaimed proudly, the only one happy about the development.

"Who's really going to believe that I had anything to do with my family's deaths when I was just a kid?" Zoro said, rolling his eyes.

Sabo shifted nervously behind them. "In any case, this is bad. It means they know your next move," he said uneasily. "And they are counting on people who might have otherwise aided us to turn us in for the money, cutting off of potential resources."

"I guess it's good that we've already left Nami's then," the incubus muttered wryly.

They skirted the shore in a total blackout with Law navigating by the lights of the city and instruments alone. After passing the last beach house on the strip, he turned out to sea, pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and made a call.

"We'll be there in ten," Law said softly. "Yes, I'm sure it's really him," he hissed, ending the call.

Zoro stalked over and sat in the leather swivel chair next to their captain.

"Oi. Mind if we talk for a minute?" he said, his gaze sweeping over the rows of illuminated controls and instruments.

"Alright," Law replied, inclining his head.

"I need to know what you really get out of this. The truth," the incubus said forcefully.

Law didn't turn from the steering wheel, but his gray eyes slid over to him. "If I told you I wanted someone at the palace dead, would you try to stop me?" he asked, clenching his teeth together.

"Depends. There aren't many people around the palace these days that I like," the green-haired man replied steadily.

"Doflamingo," Law growled, his voice going deep and gritty.

Zoro remembered the cunning, arrogant official who seemed to be constantly chasing power. He really didn't have much contact with him, except the one day that Doflamingo had caught the Prince alone. The tall, sunglasses-wearing incubus told him how some people were chosen by the heavens to rule and some weren't. To not expect the throne. As a child, he thought he was referring to his older sister Kuina, who was more skilled in her studies than him. It was not clear who would inherit the Haki out of the two of them, because although Kuina was earnestly preparing for being queen, Zoro was the male heir.

As he got older, he realized in hindsight that the odd man's words were a taunting, veiled threat, and he was sure he was part of the plot to kill his family.

"Fine by me," Zoro replied without emotion, though he could only imagine why this resourceful human would want the high official dead.

A merciless smile crept over Law's face at his ally's approval.

"And those sealed doors?" the incubus asked.

The other man's head whipped around as one of his instruments began buzzing on his dash.

"Later, Roronoa-ya. We're here," he said.

"Where's here?" Zoro asked, peering through the window into the darkness.

"The last refuge that the Revolutionary Army has left," Law replied, distracted as he slowed his ship.

"Baltigo Island."

* * *

Law turned on a high powered light, but they couldn't see the land until they were right on top of it. Glimpses of rocky cliffs surrounding the island emerged from the black fabric of the night, the white foam of ocean waves spraying high up their sheer faces. The grim man turned the boat into a natural inlet, then drifted into the darkness of a huge cave sheltered from the prying eyes of a casual drive past.

The cavern opened up into a soaring ceiling crowned with stalactites. By now, all of them were on deck gawking at the formations. Light softly glowed from a chamber up ahead, and as they passed a bend in the rock, they saw several dozen people gathered at the edge of a metal dock to greet them.

Zoro felt sick to his stomach. Last time he had stayed with the Revolutionaries, it had not gone well. But he needed their strength if they were to have a chance at winning. He looked over at Luffy, who had a huge, beaming smile on his face as he talked with his brother, and he decided it was worth it for his friend.

Several of the men ran up and helped Law lash the boat to the pier. Zoro felt many pairs of eyes on him as he stepped foot on the dock. The incubus watched suspiciously as Law slithered through the crowd and disappeared into the tunnel without explanation, leaving his passengers alone on the dock.

The group of men crowded around Sabo, firing so many questions about the explosion and his wounds that he had trouble answering them all at once.

While Sabo was distracted, a portly man with a thin, dark mustache, thick gold earrings, and a monocle stepped forward.

"Welcome, Emerald Prince Roronoa. My name is Breed.* We ask that you wear these to suppress your powers while you are here," he told him with a sickly smile, contempt flooding through his hard eyes.

Zoro felt himself start to shake as he looked down at the glowing green bracelets that hummed with a repulsive power.

"I'm not wearing those," the incubus said, his eyes wild and glaring.

"Many of us are very worried about your, er, visit. We don't normally allow your kind here. They won't hurt, and I'll take them off before you leave," Breed neatly explained, reaching out and ringing Zoro's wrist with one.

In half a breath, the incubus's hand disappeared from the Devil Fruit cuff before Breed cinched it closed.

"Oi, leave Zoro alone!" Luffy growled.

Sanji watched as Zoro began panting heavily, his eyes filling with rage. The world began to shift and distort, as if gravity had changed directions, and suddenly all eyes were on the incubus. His glamour disappeared in an instant, his wings shuddering behind him as they knocked people aside to make room. The beautiful incubus was very different from when the cook saw him without his glamour the first time.

Whatever Zoro was doing, it had nothing to do with sex.

Zoro's eyes were aggressively silver, like a sword's edge, almost painful to look at in their intensity. Sanji watched the green-haired man's pupils dilate as he stared down the heavyset Revolutionary, who had now gone completely still like a charmed cobra.

"You are not to use your Devil Fruit power while I am on this island," Zoro said very clearly and slowly, his musical voice now frightening, like a ghostly melody winding through a cursed forest.

Sanji felt dizzy, drunk from the sound of it, and he shuffled a few eager steps closer towards Zoro. The incubus glanced at the cook and gave him a slow blink, and instantly he was freed from the snare. Sanji gawked at Zoro in horror.

Even though Breed was the focus, the closest of the Revolutionaries were still partially enrapt like Sanji had been, and the cook saw that Luffy and Sabo had gone all the way to the end of the pier and were observing and talking quietly as they waited for it to be over.

"You will stay out of my sight while I am here. Repeat it," Zoro commanded Breed.

"I won't use my Devil Fruit power while you are on the island. I will stay out of your sight," the mesmerized man repeated.

Like a breath released, the pressure on the dock returned to normal. Breed jerked awake, blinking. He saw Zoro and immediately walked in the other direction, compelled by the incubus's command. As soon as the people in the crowd began to regain their senses, they became an enraged rabble, hurling expletives and swarming him.

Zoro pushed through the crowd and stormed back to the boat, his feet pounding across the aluminum pier like a clanging metal drumbeat.

Sanji ran up beside him. "Marimo, wait, damn it!"

"Get away from me," Zoro said sharply before he leapt nimbly onto the boat.

Sanji jumped over after him. He turned his head and saw Sabo angrily arguing with the some of the crowd while Luffy held everyone back from following them to the ship.

The cook slipped inside and locked the hatch after him, and he found Zoro sitting on Luffy's bed. The green-haired man glared dangerously at Sanji as he approached.

"Get out," he said roughly, bristling with rage.

Sanji raised a curly eyebrow, taken aback at his ferocity.

"Get out before I make get you out," Zoro warned.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what the fuck your problem is! They may have been out of line, but you scared the shit out of everyone, marimo!" Sanji yelled.

In a blur of motion, the cook suddenly found himself underneath Zoro on the mattress, his wrists trapped in his superhuman grip. "You humans should be scared. I'm a predator, your natural enemy. You should have run when you realized what I was," the incubus breathed into his neck as Sanji's aura shifted right on cue.

"I'm not about to be afraid of a shitty dish washer," the cook growled.

Zoro's expression softened, and he moved to get off.

"I'm sorry," the incubus said, looking down at the ground.

Sanji slid off of the bed. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"I don't know," Zoro replied unemotionally.

The cook flared up a cigarette. "No, you do. I want to know why you hate them," he said, settling down in a chair to smoke.

Zoro hadn't even told Luffy what he'd been through back then, but he felt that right now, Sanji deserved an explanation.

"They found me on the streets a few weeks after the murders and they let me stay with them," Zoro said, gripping his shirt where his scar fell.

"The first few months were fine, but then I started to come into my power. Human food was no longer enough to even touch my hunger," he said bitterly.

"I met a girl there who was a princess of some desert kingdom they were trying to liberate, and we became friends. She let me feed off of her, and my powers were finally fully Awakened. But it was my first time and I didn't know what the hell I was doing, so she was so drained the next morning she couldn't get out of bed. Thank god I can't get humans pregnant," he muttered with a glance at Sanji to see him quietly raise a spiral eyebrow.

"Her uncle, who was a Revolutionary official, convinced everyone that I had forced her. He had me put in chains, tortured me with his Devil Fruit powers, then let his damn pet crocodiles chase me," Zoro sighed, shoving a hand through his hair.

"I was starved for weeks to make sure I was too weak to resist, then he and his cronies went to hand me over to Lucci. I was on the way to be delivered to the palace when I finally figured out how to use the Haki and ran."

"There is one reason I'm back here. One. And that's Luffy," the incubus snarled, his fists shaking.

A silken thread of cigarette smoke spilled across the dim room, a visible breath escaping.

"I've had...similar experiences as a kid, so I know what it means for you to be here, to come back to this place," the cook admitted, his eyes haunted.

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked, his voice raising in pitch as he failed to conceal his curiosity about the cook's past. Zeff just didn't seem like one who would allow any harm come to his son.

"Some things are best left unsaid, marimo," Sanji said wearily, shaking his head.

"I want to hear it," the incubus said, scooting on the bed towards him.

"Maybe some other time," Sanji replied just to placate him, then stood and pocketed his hands. "So what now?"

Zoro rose, groaning. "These assholes have been trying to overthrow the government for longer than I have. As long as they don't throw me in a cage or try to shackle me again, I'll hear what they have to say," he told him.

* * *

They hopped back on a dock that had been dispersed of people.

"You ok?" Luffy asked with concern.

"Yeah," Zoro nodded, watching Sabo frown disapprovingly at him over his brother's shoulder.

"That guy was a jerk, Zoro. I was about to kick his ass, but it looked like you had everything taken care of. I knew you wouldn't hurt him," Luffy said with a confident nod, putting his hands on his hips.

Zoro's posture relaxed as he gave Luffy an appreciative nod back.

At Luffy's insistence, Sabo led them to a giant cavernous mess hall filled with Revolutionaries eating dinner who looked up nervously and glared at Zoro as he was brought in.

Sanji thought he caught a glimpse of Breed shuffling out of the back of the cavern.

Luffy devoured plate after plate of food, appreciatively shoving them down his gullet. Like many dinners with his friend, Zoro sat bored while he waited for Luffy's stomach to reach capacity. The incubus leaned over his empty setting with his jaw in his hand, watching humans stare at him like he was a sideshow act.

Sanji was seated across from him and seemed to be aware of all the attention, as he dished out dirty looks over Zoro's shoulder while eating a small meal of chicken, rice, and vegetables.

"Meat and protein are good for you after you donate," Zoro told him quietly.

A flush of pink danced across Sanji's cheeks. "Don't think I'm going to start donating to you or anything! I told you, I was just helping Luffy. That was a one time thing!" he explained in a hiss, spiking his chicken with his fork. "It's your fault I'm exhausted!"

Luffy removed a bare bone from his mouth, chewing noisily. "You can help me again, Sanji! Your food is so good. Be my official cook!" he said with a full mouth before immediately stuffing it with another chicken leg.

"I refuse," Sanji said, no longer able to take not having a cigarette. He casually lit one and rudely blew the smoke across the table in Zoro's face.

"I refuse your refusal," Luffy replied curtly.

"You can't do that!" Sanji objected.

While they argued, Zoro looked up to find a man in an orange and white fur coat silently standing over him.

"I'm sorry you had some trouble at the docks. Nice to see that you've made it," Inazuma said, watching Zoro carefully through dark red sunglasses.

"Thanks," Zoro said as eyes assessed the Revolutionary's aura. He had been a little worried that he had taken too much from him last time.

"Robin wanted me to donate to you again while you are staying here. Please find me if you are hungry," he offered, absentmindedly swirling his wine glass in his hand, his slightly sultry smirk serving as an obvious invitation.

"Thanks, I might take you up on that," the incubus said, nodding.

"Is Robin-chan ok?" Sanji chimed in.

"Yes, she will be here tomorrow for the meeting, in fact," he informed the cook, whose face brightened with excitement.

"Meeting?" the incubus asked, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded. "Tomorrow afternoon there will be a tribunal of the heads of the Revolutionary Army. You are expected to attend, as they will be deciding on how we plan on helping you," the orange and white clad man explained.

"Hmph," the incubus grunted disapprovingly.

Inazuma bent down to Zoro. "I need to speak with you alone," he said in a low voice. The incubus grimaced, but followed him to an empty corner of the cafeteria.

"What is it?" he asked warily.

Inazuma pulled out a black smartphone and charger and handed it to him. "Robin wants you to have this since you are apparently without one at the moment. She also wanted me to tell you it has data," the split-colored man said.

"Why all the hush hush over a phone?" Zoro asked, annoyance seeping into his tone.

"Your friend is the son of the owner of the Baratie, correct?" Inazuma asked, pulling a small tablet from his coat.

Zoro nodded, puzzled by the question.

Inazuma quickly logged into a database and pulled up a photo, which he enlarged on the screen. It looked like an overhead shot of the remains of a charred and smoking building.

Zoro froze. He could recognize the familiar fish-shaped sign still standing on the edge of the parking lot anywhere.

It was the Baratie.

"When our agents reported it, I thought you'd want to know. I'm sorry," Inazuma said.

Zoro suddenly felt like he was falling backwards off of a 50 story building. He picked Sanji out of the crowd, who was laughing as he spoke with Luffy.

His dark eyes flashed with silver fury. "Who did it?" he growled.

"I have people working on that, but I suspect it's Lucci or one of his allies," Inazuma speculated.

"Anything else?" the incubus asked sharply.

The other man shook his head regretfully. "I've programmed my number into your phone. Call me if you need anything," Inazuma said, giving a quiet nod of farewell before leaving.

Zoro returned to the table, obviously shaken. He let out a hissing breath, dragging his hand through his green hair.

"What did he want?" Sanji asked with concern.

"I'll tell you later," Zoro muttered gruffly.

He knew this was all his fault, and the cook was sure to hate him for it. Had he handled the situation with Spandam differently, he'd still be at the restaurant washing dishes while the cook bitched at him. The thought seemed like heaven now.

Sanji loved that place even more than Zeff did. It was the cook's home, his future. And now Zoro's enemies had taken that away.

How was he even supposed to tell him?

Zoro looked up to see Sabo weave through the maze of chairs to get to them.

"It's getting pretty late, so I'm going to show you to your rooms now. No objections to rooming together again, guys?" he asked, intently holding Sanji's gaze.

The cook shook his head. "None," he confirmed.

Zoro sighed as he was handed the perfect opportunity to tell Sanji about the Baratie, and to bring what was left of the cook's world crashing down on him.  
  


* * *

  
*Breed: One Piece Anime Episode 625, Pet-Pet Fruit


	10. Chapter 10

As they followed Sabo deep into the steel-reinforced cave, Zoro couldn't help but speculate how the Revolutionaries managed to dig out these chambers in the solid rock under the radar of the authorities. They were being led into a narrow, door-lined hallway when a young woman dressed in a short pink skirt and hat approached them.

Sanji's mouth dropped open at the sight of the cute girl with auburn hair, and Zoro could practically see the hearts fluttering in his eye as his aura went from zero to take me in the space of a second. The incubus rolled his eyes, as he could really have used that kind of enthusiasm back when he was healing Luffy.

"Why don't you ever answer your phone?" she huffed at Sabo, hands on her hips.

"Sorry Koala, kind of had my hands full," Sabo told her, gesturing at the tired-looking trio.

A stern expression fell across Koala's features as she noticed Zoro among them, and her cerulean eyes pierced his body like she was reliving the anger from another place and time.

"You're the Emerald Prince?" she asked him softly, her emotions barely contained.

"Yeah," Zoro replied, preparing himself for curses and insults.

"You probably don't remember me, but I belonged to your family a long time ago," she told him.

Zoro's eyebrows shot up in surprise. His family may have put in place one or two more progressive laws, but they were far from perfect. He had seen his parents do things that even as an indoctrinated child he knew were very wrong, and he could only imagine what her experience was like as their slave.

"Shit," he swore, anxiously rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't remember you, but I'm sorry."

Her tightly drawn mouth twitched. "Are you going to do anything about the slaves when you become King?" she inquired.

He shrugged. "That's not up to me to decide," he calmly replied. He could see her blue eyes ignite, his nonchalance fanning the flames that had been smoldering just underneath her skin. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Zoro continued.

"That sort of thing is up to my successor," he said, jerking his thumb at Luffy, who grinned and laughed contentedly.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meet you! I'm going to be the next King!" the raven-haired boy announced, extending his hand.

"You're Sabo's brother, aren't you?!" she exclaimed, jubilantly shaking it, then squeezing him into a hug. She gave Zoro an odd look over Luffy's shoulder.

"How did this happen, Luffy?" Koala asked, utterly confused.

Luffy shrugged. "Zoro's my roommate, and when he told me he didn't want the throne, I told him that being King was my dream," he said, as if that explained everything.

"I thought you hated the Revolutionary Army, though," Koala told Zoro, her eyebrows knitting together as she tucked a curl of hair behind her ear.

"I do," Zoro confirmed, narrowing his dark eyes at her.

"Then why make Luffy your successor? He's-" she was cut off, lurching forward slightly as Sabo nudged her.

"That's a tale for another time, I'm afraid. I'm sure everyone's tired," Sabo announced, forcing a laugh.

She pulled the wavy haired man aside out of earshot, annoyedly leading him by his shirt collar.

As an incubus, Zoro had no problem hearing them.

"He doesn't know?!" she whispered.

"No, he doesn't, so don't say anything!" he told her under his breath.

"He's going to find out eventually," Koala pointed out.

"Let's hope that's later rather than sooner," Sabo murmured, peering over at Zoro, who had adopted a bored expression as he covertly listened.

The incubus calmly made conversation with Luffy as they returned. Koala said her good nights and took off in the opposite direction, much to Sanji's disappointment, and Sabo showed him and Zoro to a room.

"You can stay in my room tonight, Luffy," Sabo offered. "I have to write a few reports, but that shouldn't keep you up," he told him, motioning for his brother to follow.

Zoro wrapped his hand around Luffy's arm. "I was hoping to try something new I thought of to give you the Haki," he lied. "Nothing weird. It won't take long."

"Sure. We've tried a lot of weird things though, haven't we? Remember when we-"

Zoro dove in and slapped a hand over Luffy's mouth. "Shut up, idiot!" he barked.

The dark-haired boy stopped talking and blinked in bewilderment, and Zoro dropped his hand.

"Anyway, it was hilarious," Luffy continued with a laugh.

Zoro broke out into a sweat as he saw the less than pleased expression on Sabo's face.

"Luffy, it's your call," Sabo sighed.

"All right, Zoro. Let's try this new thing," Luffy chirped.

"I'm going to finish up my final rounds. Luffy, I'll be back in a bit to pick you up. Be careful," he said, giving a pointed look at the incubus before leaving.

Luffy and Zoro entered the small, institutional-looking quarters with two metal framed twin beds hugging the walls. Sanji stopped abruptly at the threshold.

"What do you want me to do?" the cook asked, looking apprehensively into the room.

"Come in. Shut the door," Zoro instructed.

As soon as the latch clicked, the incubus turned on Luffy.

"What the hell would your brother and that girl be so worried about me finding out about you?!" he demanded, backing him up into a wall. "What's the secret, Luffy?!"

Sanji's eye went round as he realized that this had nothing to do with Haki.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Luffy replied honestly.

"When she was talking to your brother over there, they were talking about keeping some sort of secret about you away from me. You really have no idea what that could be?" Zoro interrogated the dark-haired young man, his patience evaporated like a pan boiled dry.

Luffy screwed his eyes, thinking hard. "No idea," he calmly maintained.

"Marimo, he doesn't know! Just calm down so he can talk to you," Sanji growled.

At these close quarters, Luffy saw his friend's body language change the instant he heard the cook's voice, the blind rage gathered in his muscles beginning to retreat like the receding tide.

"You should totally go for it with Sanji," Luffy leaned forward and whispered in Zoro's ear, snickering.

Zoro jerked away from him, utterly disarmed. "What?! Hell no, idiot!" he whispered back, flustered.

"Trust me. You know that I'd tell you anything important," Luffy reminded his friend.

The incubus's shoulders slumped, a little more of his adrenaline easing. "I know. But your brother and his friends are keeping something from me, probably from you too," the incubus said, squeezing his fists at his side.

"I'll ask him about it. Sabo would never do anything to hurt us," Luffy said with a soft smile.

Zoro nodded, distracted. "Yeah, ok," he mumbled.

There was a knock at the door, and Luffy answered it.

"See you tomorrow!" he waved as he left with his brother. The door swung shut behind him with a loud slam.

"You don't do anything by halves, do you?" Sanji grumbled, giving him a withering look before pulling his cigarettes out and lighting one.

"I have to tell you something," Zoro said stiffly as he watched the cook casually take a drag.

Sanji stood up a little straighter as he noticed the serious expression on the incubus's face. "What is it?" he asked expectantly.

Zoro squeezed his eyes shut, emptying out his lungs in a slow stream.

"What is it?" Sanji repeated impatiently.

"Someone burned down the restaurant. It's gone," he said through clenched teeth.

Sanji's whole body jerked. "What?!" he asked, as if he hadn't heard Zoro right the first time.

The incubus looked away, silent.

"Tell me you're fucking kidding," the cook demanded.

"I saw a photo of it myself," he replied numbly as he watched Sanji begin to tremble with anger. His hate-filled eye shot up to Zoro like an arrow to a target.

"This is all your fault!" Sanji shouted scathingly, suddenly coming at him, his leg a blur.

Zoro swiftly ducked as the cook's heel split the dresser behind him into splinters.

"It's your fault for fighting that incubus!" the cook screamed, attacking again with a brutal swipe of his foot that mangled one of the beds where Zoro had just been standing with a shrill crash of the metal frame.

"If I hadn't, what do you think he would have done to you?!" Zoro yelled back, grunting as he was grazed by a kick that probably would have crushed his ribs if it had fully connected. He woke one of his swords to defend himself.

"Something that would have been better than what's going to happen now! If you would have just minded your own business, the Baratie would still be there, and none of this would be happening!" Sanji shouted as a tear slid down his cheek from under the hair covering his other eye. He shifted his weight to the opposite foot in preparation for another attack, mercilessly gunning for the incubus again.

"Stop, damn it!" Zoro yelled as he sidestepped the cook's leg at the last moment with supernatural speed, grabbing his wrists in his strong grip.

As the heavy kick flew past him, Sanji's momentum sent them toppling back. Zoro staggered a few steps until the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed, then the two fell clumsily on the mattress, Sanji on top.

They both froze, staring into the other's eyes in bewilderment. Sanji panicked, rolling off of Zoro and scrambling to sit on the far end of the bed.

Zoro sat up on his elbows. "I'm pissed off about the Baratie too, but I'm not about to stand by and watch you get molested or worse for some restaurant," he told him.

"It wasn't just some restaurant! It was our dream!" Sanji shouted bitterly, his bloodshot eye closing as he took in a deep breath, his life force flickering in a kaleidoscope of dissonant colors.

"I don't care." Zoro's eyes searched the cook's flushed face, powerful concern exploding from within him. "If you think I'm going to let someone hurt you, you're wrong," he growled harshly, his eyebrows low over his steely eyes.

The cook laughed bitterly. "Protect people you hate often, marimo?" he asked.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Zoro barked back in honest ignorance.

"Because apparently I don't fall into that category anymore, dumbass," Sanji muttered, taking another pull from his cigarette. "When did you start giving a damn about me?" he asked softly, staring off across the room.

"Who says I give a damn, curly cue?" he blurted out quickly.

"You pretty much just did," the cook said sharply, meeting Zoro's eyes. "Tell me. You owe it to me," he urged, a delicate line of smoke streaming from his soft-looking lips.

The incubus took in a breath, his eyes tracing the abstract shapes of the crushed bed across from them.

"That moment when I saw him on you, saw how hard you had fought...I couldn't care less if it meant being found, executed. Right in that moment, kicking his ass and saving you was all that mattered. I guess you can call that giving a damn," Zoro replied.

"Idiot! I never asked for your help, let alone for you to risk your life! Look at all the trouble it's caused!" the cook hissed, a frustrated tear spilling down his cheek.

The incubus could hear the other man's heartbeat picking up speed. He turned his head towards the sound and found the cook staring strangely at him. Zoro had been about to answer with the usual sarcastic remark, but as he fell headfirst into the troubled winter sea of Sanji's eye he realized that sort of response didn't ring true with him this time.

"I'll be the one to decide what's worth protecting," Zoro replied, his stomach flipping with a little thrill as they made eye contact. He found himself leaning closer to the cook, sliding gradually into the slope created by their combined weight on the mattress.

"And I'll decide who's worth dying for," the incubus whispered.

Sanji shuddered, his shoulders rising and falling to the quickening tempo of his breathing as he moved one hand behind Zoro on the bed, their arms brushing against each other. The incubus felt heat creeping into his cheeks as the cook held his stare, waves of unexpected intimacy sending chills running through his body.

The scent of smoke and spices embraced Zoro as the cook reached out nervously and cupped his chin, pulling his face to him as the walls between them crumbled away.

They surged forward in unison, their mouths merging in a flurry of soft sighs and warm breaths, their hands leaping to explore what had once been forbidden and off limits.

Sanji allowed himself to be laid back on the bed. The incubus leaned over him, burying his fingers in his feathery blond hair as their lips urgently swept over each other. Zoro skimmed his thumb across the smooth skin of the other man's cheek, gently wiping away the wet paths of a stray tear or two, his lips beckoning him to forgetting the sadness, if just for a little while.

The cook's hands slid over Zoro's shoulders, his slender fingers exploring the sculpted topography of his back, searching to stroke the sensitive wings that were currently hidden. The cook parted from Zoro's lips, leaning up to softly hum across his ear, making him shiver. Sanji nibbled on his earlobe, then blazed a trail of kisses down the incubus's jaw. The incubus reflexively rolled his hips forward, rubbing himself against the cook's hard-on, making the other man let out a soft, throaty groan.

Zoro felt the room spin. Even with all of his years of experience, he didn't know why Sanji's body felt like lightening underneath him, why his content, velvety moans made the thousands of times he had fed from people melt away into nothingness, like there had been no one else before. The incubus couldn't name what exactly he wanted from this man who he used to dread even talking to, but whatever it was, he fucking wanted it, needed it in its totality. And even though he could feel the flickers of Sanji's beautiful, waiting life force licking at him like dancing flames, for once, he didn't give a damn about energy.

The cook's eager hands took full advantage of the license they now had to explore the incubus's body, and they spent extra time feeling up Zoro's pecs through the thin material of his t-shirt. Zoro was silently amused by his interest in the area, noting it for later. He grabbed Sanji's hands and forced them back on the bed, pulling back to admire the other man, whose eye was half-lidded and foggy with pure arousal. The type of arousal that would probably be pretty uncomfortable to come down from cold, Zoro thought.

The incubus untucked Sanji's shirt and unbuttoned it one-handed, parting the fabric open like a velvet curtain over a private stage. He dove past the light material, his fingers spreading out across the bare skin of his stomach, caressing downwards.

"Let me make you feel good," Zoro whispered, his fingers trailing lightly across the front of the other man's pants. He felt as hard as steel.

The cook's eye flew open in alarm, and within a split second Zoro was sharply flung into the opposite wall by a devastating kick. The incubus's body slammed into a flimsy full-length mirror, shattering it.

"Get out," Sanji said in an intense whisper, rubbing his mouth with the back of his arm.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Zoro exclaimed in confusion as he dusted glass shards out of his hair.

"Get out! Now!" he repeated, pointing to the door.

Zoro irately stomped out of the door and slammed it closed. He aggressively planted himself right outside with his arms crossed, listening to the cook curse quietly in the room to himself.

He tried to retrace the steps of how their incensed arguing about the tragic arson turned into one of the hottest makeout sessions he'd ever had, minus the aftermath.

The incubus realized that for the first time in a long time, his participation in something sexual had nothing to do with just taking energy.

He had been connecting with the cook on a different level than before, a level that had jumped from murderous to amorous in the space of a few minutes. And then unfortunately back to murderous. Zoro didn't even want to begin to predict the implications of what just happened.

All he knew was this could not be allowed to continue. Everything Zoro could see as he stood on the precipice of what could be with Sanji was something that was messy and complicated, and he had just about his fill of that from the last few days to last him a lifetime.

He went to sleep frustrated and uncomfortable, a disgruntled sentry beside the door.


	11. Chapter 11

Zoro opened an eye as a presence loomed over him.

"I've gotten a report that there is an incubus lurking to ambush people in a hallway. You're a very lazy hunter," Inazuma chuckled.

"Yeah, I saw them go by. They just about pissed their pants when they saw me. Figures," the incubus yawned, stretching.

"Want something to drink? We have a bar," the orange and white clad man suggested.

"Hell yes, I want a drink," Zoro said as he hopped to his feet with sudden energy, hoping the other man wouldn't ask about why he was out in the hallway to begin with.

Inazuma mutely led him through the now empty cafeteria and down a snug tunnel lit by an endless string of bare lightbulbs. Metallic flecks embedded in the rock walls shone a brassy gold in the warm light.

"Fool's gold," Inazuma called back to him as he saw Zoro pause to examine the valuable-looking vein.

"It's easy for people to mislabel something that looks like something else, right Zoro?" Inazuma mused.

"What are you trying to say?" the incubus replied, an edge to his tone.

The Revolutionary spoke as he walked. "When Robin first asked me to donate to you, I refused at first. I just knew that you'd hurt me, force me to do things that I didn't want to do. When you and Luffy came through the door, I realized that who I thought you would be and who you actually were couldn't have been more different. So please, give us a chance," he said.

"I'll try," Zoro muttered.

As the path stretched even further down the passage, the incubus picked up the sound of music and clapping filtering towards them.

Inazuma opened a weathered metal door and a tidal wave of dance music and voices crashed over them. In the back of the large room stood a stage bordered by long, velvet curtains. A spotlight followed a large drag queen wearing barely anything but an open-chested bodysuit, thigh high fuchsia boots, and a fluffy purple wig.

The garb of the crowd was no less revealing, dressed mostly in fishnet stockings and parts of animal costumes as they writhed to the music. Zoro briefly wondered if this strange mass of people that was teeming with arousal was going to turn into an orgy, and he debated whether he'd be up for some energy if things really turned out that way.

Probably not, he thought, looking unimpressed around the room strewn with annoying flecks of light from a disco ball. Zoro raised one of his angular eyebrows at Inazuma.

"That's Emporio Ivankov. He is one of the chief officials of the Revolutionary Army," Inazuma explained, inclining his head towards the stage.

"No offense, but I just came for booze," the incubus told him.

Ivan spotted Zoro in the crowd. "Well, well, we have a royal delight with us tonight! Come here, Prince Roronoa. My, what a handsome candy boy!" the garishly dressed man exclaimed.

Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose as the spotlight exposed him. The revelers instantly cleared a wide path from him to the stage. He turned the opposite way and tried to push through the crowd, but they pushed back, sweeping him to the steps. He ended up in Ivan's grasp and was pulled up next to him on stage.

The crowd fell silent and the music was lowered. This felt more like an execution than a floor show.

"The true Prince of the Incubi, ladies and gentleman!" Ivan milked a long pause by pretending to nearly fall over.

"Or not!" He hee hawed a laugh as he jumped upright, his curly afro bobbing on his head. The crowd howled with laughter.

Zoro swallowed hard, clenching his teeth as the harsh spotlight fell on him.

"Why are you here, Prince Roronoa?" the Revolutionary asked theatrically into a microphone that dropped down from the ceiling.

The mic was shoved into Zoro's face. "I'm here for a friend," he growled, pushing it away.

"Really? Because I heard you were having a little pest problem at the palace and needed our help exterminating them," Ivan replied, crossing his arms. Spatters of claps and giggles came from the crowd.

Zoro narrowed his eyes, getting angrier. "Look, I'm here because of Luffy and that's it! I could take or leave your help!" he yelled, just about ready to swim to shore to get off of the island.

"As in Monkey D. Luffy?" the purple-haired man asked in disbelief.

The people and music fell silent. Zoro nodded, wondering how someone like Ivan knew of his friend. Luffy's mysterious secret came to the forefront of his mind.

"Why are you here for Luffy?" Ivan quickly questioned, balancing the mic in front of Zoro's mouth in anticipation.

"Because Luffy is the man who is going to be the next King," Zoro answered irritably, at his wit's end.

The microphone tumbled out of Ivan's hand with a deafening, amplified bang onto the stage as everybody's mouths dropped to the floor.

Zoro hopped down, weaving through the stunned crowd to the bar, where he swiped two bottles of hard liquor and made his way towards the door.

Ivan dove for the squealing mic. "Wait! You're helping Monkey D. Luffy become King!? You want a human to rule?!" he yelled after him.

"Was the microphone off or something? Yes, I just said that!" he shouted over the murmuring crowd.

"Then it's time for a party!" Ivan yelled as the crowd cheered. The music blasted back on and Zoro just narrowly dodged people trying to grab him to dance.

Zoro ducked out the door, jogging down the passage. He recognized the soft footsteps of someone following him and waited for them to catch up.

"I'm sorry about that," Inazuma panted, trying to catch his breath.

"You know what? I think you brought me to Ivankov on purpose. Go back to your party. I'll find my own way back," the incubus snapped at him.

"As you wish," the Revolutionary muttered, turning sullenly back towards the bar.

Zoro uncorked one of the bottles with his teeth and drank straight from it as he exited the long tunnel. He entered a chamber with a myriad of passages branching off of it and squinted as he surveyed the possibilities. The incubus shrugged, then picked one at random.

* * *

Zoro had tried to find the room that he and Sanji had been staying in so he could alleviate the pressure of his horrible mood by giving the cook a piece of his mind, but he got hopelessly twisted and turned around in the maze of caverns.

Exhausted, pissed off, and fresh out of liquor, he took a chance and ducked into a random room, breaking the lock in the process. Luckily, the office he had chosen was dark and empty, and he dove onto the couch that was nestled between the tall bookcases that lined the walls.

Not too much later, he awoke to the doorknob softy jangling and the door swinging in with a hushed creak. As he watched, his night vision caught a glimpse of a familiar face who was softly padding into the room with a large duffel bag hanging from his shoulder.

"Oi," Zoro said in greeting, yawning and sitting up.

Law flinched in surprise, freezing in place. "Roronoa-ya?" he asked the darkness as he pulled out a flashlight. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"Sleeping," the incubus answered with a shrug. "What are you doing, besides getting the shit scared out of you?"

"Very funny. I wasn't scared, only startled, if that," the other man grumbled.

Zoro raised a speculative eyebrow. "But your heartbeat-"

"Shut up. I'm busy," Law interrupted as he put his bag down on the desk and took a seat in the computer chair.

"What are you doing?" the incubus asked in annoyance, following him to the desk.

"Work," the tattooed man said. After a few keystrokes, he gave a sly grin and turned to Zoro.

"Not even a password," Law tisked.

He zipped open his bag and pulled out a small metal box which he plugged up to the tower, then his tattooed fingers flew over the keyboard. The computer began to softly hum, and Law sat back in the chair, waiting.

"What are you doing?" Zoro repeated as he leaned over and peered at the screen. He caught a breath of Law's scent, surprisingly light and sweet.

"I'm copying this computer's hard drive," he explained with a subdued smirk.

"I see," the incubus grunted, already bored. "So what percentage of porn do you think you're getting there?" he inquired with a grin.

Law shrugged. "I never pay attention to that crap. I only care about useful files that I can use for intelligence," he explained, distracted as he paged through some of the physical file folders in the desk drawers while the computer worked. He snatched a few and stuffed them into his bag.

"Crap is right. I've tried watching porn a few times, but it just makes me hungry. It's like when Luffy watches those damn cooking shows then eats half of the fridge. Do humans really get that much out of it?" the incubus asked thoughtfully.

Law choked on a sudden intake of air. "I'm not about to discuss my porn habits with you, Roronoa," the tattooed man said firmly.

"Whatever. I've never understood it when people I've already fed off of are embarrassed to talk about sex or be naked around me," Zoro replied, scratching the back of his head.

"You don't understand because you're not human," Law told him, grabbing a huge planning calendar and shoving it in with the other finds into his bag. The unwieldy desk planner fought being squashed into the full haul.

"How the hell do they let a guy like you roam around unsupervised?" the incubus inquired with distaste, thinking back to the reception he had received at the dock. Law was infinitely more dangerous to them than he was.

"They'll trust most humans who are earnestly working against the crown," Law said with an edge of satisfaction, zipping up and shouldering his bag.

Zoro's forehead creased as he gave the tattooed man a suspicious scowl. "So who were you gathering that stuff for?" he asked.

"Myself, primarily. Where do you think some of the intel I promised you comes from?" the tattooed man said.

"I get it. Steal away, then," Zoro yawned, ready for another nap.

Law gave a nod. "You should find another place to sleep. Come back to my room if you want, I'm finished for the night," he said, readjusting the strap on his shoulder and turning to leave.

Zoro grabbed Law's bag. "Wait. I need a favor. I need you to find out who burned down the Baratie," he said with urgency.

Law sighed. "I'm about out of favors for you, Roronoa-ya. But I am following a theory on that. I'll notify you if it's something I feel you should know," he said.

Zoro nodded an affirmative, so damn sleepy he was beginning to not care where he ended up as he followed Law out.

* * *

Sanji had laid wide awake for most of the miserable night. He sprawled out face down atop the remaining bed, the only surface in the room that he hadn't completely destroyed while trying to kick Zoro's teeth in. He smashed two pillows against his head and groaned.

The cook had spent sleepless hours worrying about the shitty geezer and mourning the Baratie, while mentally cataloging all of the irreplaceable things that had probably been burned to ashes. It ended up being a pretty detailed list, as he was also trying to keep his mind fully away from thinking about the other tragedy that had happened that night.

The cook wasn't sure what was worse, feeling like he was getting closer to understanding Zoro's true heart, or feeling like he was getting closer to letting him have his way with his body. Either was unacceptable, as he was pretty sure he was suffering from some sort of delusion by being put through so much trauma with the incubus as a constant companion. He was certain that once this mess was over with and he was finally back out in the real world, the fog would lift and any transgressions with his former coworker would be extremely regretted.

Sanji flung the pillows to the side and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it while lying on his stomach. Zoro's scent drifted up from the blankets where he and the incubus had gotten closer in both aspects just hours before. His tired mind automatically summoned the phantoms of Zoro's hands wrapping possessively around his waist, running like rivers down his chest, tickling the inside of his thighs. He shuddered, heat running to his lower stomach like streams of molten ore.

It was a miracle that Sanji had managed to stop himself before anything had really happened. Thank goodness for powerful reflexes.

There was a sudden knock at the door and the cook groaned, nearly falling out of bed to answer it.

"If that's you, marimo, you're not getting back in!" he called through the door as he unlatched and opened it.

Inazuma was waiting, and he offered the cook a neatly folded bundle of clothes. "Good morning. Fresh clothes for you and Zoro, if he comes by here again. There are showers down the hall and to the right."

"Thanks. Did you see him around last night?" Sanji asked, peering down the hallway for his telltale green hair.

Inazuma nodded. "I had to come get him because people were complaining about him sleeping out here," he chuckled.

A spike of guilt lanced through Sanji. "...Right. What's on the agenda today?"

"There is the tribunal meeting at 3:00 p.m., where the heads of the Revolutionary Army will decide what to do for Zoro. He may want to consult with Sabo or myself today at some point about what to expect," he explained, watching Sanji steadily behind crimson colored lenses.

"In any case, feel free to use the cafeteria and exercise area. We also have a library and a bar, although Zoro didn't like it very much," Inazuma said, giving a wan smile.

"Bar? So he was living it up, drinking all night?" Sanji growled, frowning.

"He had a bad night, I'm afraid. If you see him, tell him I'm sorry," the other man replied, handing over the clothes and leaving the cook to wonder what kind of trouble the incubus had gotten himself into this time.

* * *

Sanji later found Luffy and Sabo in the cafeteria.

"Oi!" Luffy yelled across the dining hall, swinging his arms in huge arcs which hit his brother's head.

"The food here is really good, but not as awesome as yours, Sanji!" Luffy exclaimed as the blonde sat down at the table.

"Thanks, Luffy. It feels weird not cooking for so long. Maybe I can borrow their kitchen and make you something," the cook replied with a smile that soon faded. He would never make food in the familiar, comfortable kitchen of the Baratie ever again. His set of treasured kitchen knives Zeff had given him were probably ruined. The finality of it stung like antiseptic on a wound.

"Alright! I want meat. Lots of it," Luffy demanded.

Sabo pushed a glass of orange juice and a plate of omelette and bacon in front of Sanji.

"You wouldn't believe what I had to do to keep this away from him," the wavy-haired man said, shaking his head at Luffy with an amused sigh. The bandages that had covered half of his face had been removed, and although he had been able to keep his eye, he had a horrible scar from the explosion.

Sanji gave Sabo nod of gratitude. "Have either of you heard from Zoro?" he inquired casually as he dug into his breakfast.

The brothers shook their heads.

"People are saying that Ivankov got Zoro to announce on stage at the bar last night that he's giving Luffy the throne. After that, I don't know. He didn't come back to your room?" Sabo asked him, concern deepening the lines of his face.

Sanji shook his head, staring wearily down at the tiny bubbles ringing the edge of his juice.

"Probably got lost. Bad night indeed," the cook muttered under his breath. 'Who's Ivankov?"

"One of the heads of the Revolutionary Army. Some say he's like Dragon's right hand man. Or woman, depending on his mood," Sabo laughed.

"Come on, cook for me!" Luffy interrupted, excitedly wiggling in his chair. The Revolutionary just looked at the cook apologetically and shrugged.

Sanji sighed, then gave Luffy a resigned grin, jerking his head towards the kitchen as he got up out of his seat.

Luffy followed close behind as the cook walked into the kitchen like he owned the place, oblivious to the stares of the current occupants as he began grabbing perfectly good fish scraps from the prep tables that were left to be discarded by the wasteful chefs.

"I bet you don't waste food like this, right Luffy?" Sanji said contemptuously, rolling his cigarette in between his teeth as he squinted judgmentally at his surroundings.

The art of cooking that he had been refining his whole life sang from his knife like an aria as he chopped his found ingredients, crafting dish after sumptuous dish for his excited friend and attracting a crowd of cooks as hungry for his recipes as his cuisine.

Luffy didn't stop eating until he had gobbled up every last bite and he looked like a round ball with skinny arms and legs sticking out of him. It was hard to tell who looked more satisfied of the two.

"Whew! So good, Sanji!" the dark haired boy groaned as the cook cleaned up after himself.

"Yeah, it was nice to cook again. I doubt the Kingdom has the funds for this kind of food consumption when you become King. Whoever cooks for you is going to need to know how to cook for a crowd," Sanji laughed, cleaning the cutting board he had borrowed in the sink.

"He does," Luffy said matter-of-factly, leveling his gaze at him.

"For the last time, I'm not becoming your cook, ok?" Sanji said strongly, blowing a puff of smoke from around the cigarette dangling from the side of his mouth.

"Why not?" the young man asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Because I have to help the shitty geezer rebuild the Baratie. I don't know if you heard, but it burned down," the cook replied sharply, dropping his dishes back in the soapy water and turning to face Luffy.

"That restaurant with the good food that Zoro worked at?" Luffy asked in alarm.

"Yeah. I owe the old man so much, I really want to help him achieve his dreams. So I can't cook at the palace," Sanji explained, refusing him yet again.

"What about your dreams?" Luffy challenged.

Sanji shrugged limply. "I don't really have any," he said, rotating back towards the sink again.

"You should get Zoro to help you," Luffy spoke as soon as the cook's back was turned, making him flinch.

"What?" Sanji growled over his shoulder.

"Meeting him helped me with my dream. I think it'll be the same for you," Luffy told him.

"Sorry, not interested," the cook replied with thinly veiled irritation.

"Alright, then. Thanks for the meal," Luffy said as he stretched and yawned contentedly, strolling towards the exit.

He turned around on his heels at the last moment. "I don't know your dad, but I know he probably doesn't want you following his dream your whole life, Sanji," he called back before disappearing through the swinging doors.

The cook roughly washed the remainder of the dishes, giant bubbles foaming where his hands cut through the water. Someone like Luffy would never understand the extent he owed Zeff his life, dreams included.

* * *

When Sanji finally finished up, he learned that Luffy had rushed off to go fishing in an underground lake with some new friends he had made. The cook decided to head to his wrecked room to rest a bit before the meeting.

As he neared the room he began to hear deep, echoing peals reminiscent of cannon fire that were shaking dust loose from the stone ceiling.

Several men, their faces pale from fear, nearly ran Sanji over in their attempt to escape the corridor.

"What's going on?" the cook questioned in alarm.

"That incubus is going to kill everybody!" one spouted before scrambling to his feet and running for his life.

Sanji's face scrunched up in anger and disgust as he glared down the booming hallway. "Damn that idiot!" he yelled, jogging down the hall in the direction of the commotion.

He abruptly skidded to a stop at an overlook where a handful of people were leaning over the railing to try to get a better look at something happening in the drop below. Sanji joined the crowd, craning his neck to see what his idiot coworker was screwing up this time.

Over their heads, the cook watched as a violent burst of wind spiraled up to the ceiling, knocking down a shower of dust and debris. Sanji squeezed his fists at his sides and marched through the nervous crowd to a set of stairs that led down to what looked like a practice and sparring area, the edges ringed with various workout machines and free weights.

Zoro was in the center of the rectangular space, all three of his swords glowing so softly that they were barely visible. As his body slid into a stance, he brought the two swords in his hands parallel to the one in his mouth so that they were all pointing in the same direction. All three blades swung around at once in unison, now illuminating intensely as power ran through them.

As the strike was made, the power leapt off of his blades, now in the form of a otherworldly glowing dragon which spiraled up into a tornadic funnel, undulating and ripping into the ceiling of the cave as the bulk of the energy hit. A pressure wave of deeply vibrating sound cut through the enclosed air and shook the ground, and the cook's hands flew to his ears to protect them.

It was impressive, Sanji appraised as he watched Zoro's fluid movements with begrudging interest. He calmly walked across the exercise yard in between attacks.

"Oi," the cook said, announcing his presence.

"Oh, it's you," Zoro said unexcitedly, letting his hands drop, his swords disintegrating into nothing like sand running through his fingers.

"Here you are, scaring everyone again," Sanji sighed, squinting his uncovered eye in annoyance.

"Like when I scared the shit out of you when we kissed?" Zoro bluntly replied.

A tide of scarlet washed across the other man's face.

"You're confusing fear with disgust, marimo," Sanji sneered.

"If you say so," Zoro replied, unconvinced.

"Heard you had a rough night," Sanji said, changing the subject.

"Care to explain why you kicked me out like a stray dog?" the incubus asked acidly.

"You know exactly why," Sanji hissed. "If you would have stayed, things would have gone to places that we would have regretted later. I'm going to chalk up our temporary lapse in judgement to my extreme stress and your casual sexual tendencies," he said, diving into his pocket for his cigarettes.

"Casual?" the incubus spat out, grimacing. "Just because I live off of sex doesn't mean that it can never mean anything to me. But I agree with your point. Let's just pretend like it never happened and get back to normal," he said, exhaling loudly.

Sanji gratefully nodded. He made a move to leave but stopped, surveying the sparring ring thoughtfully.

"I need to work off some frustration. Feel like fighting me for real?" he asked.

Zoro smirked. "Fight you? You can't handle it," he scoffed.

Sanji rolled his eyes. "The only thing I won't be able to handle is you hypnotizing me or whatever."

"Alright, I won't lower my glamour or entrance you, but I'm still using my swords," Zoro agreed.

The cook gave a fierce grin. "That's all that I need. As long as I'm not hypnotized, there's no way I'm losing," he said confidently.

"Whatever, curly brow. A prissy guy like you can't beat me," the incubus declared as he crossed his arms, giving the cook a bland, unconcerned expression.

"We'll see about that," Sanji said with a sly smile before darting forward and punting Zoro clear across the cavern like a football.


	12. Chapter 12

The incubus slammed into the rock wall in a spray of dust and stone chips. He emerged from the rubble, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You'll need to try harder than that," Zoro said with a wide, cocky grin, his swords forming again like clouds of mist gathering shape.

He blocked another kick and flicked the cook off of his blade into a set of lockers with a ringing clatter of metal. Sanji got up, dusted himself off, and lit a cigarette, cupping his hand over his mouth to hide a growing smile.

"Too weak, marimo. You're pulling your punches. Giving up already?" the cook taunted.

"No, but I don't want to accidentally kill you either," the incubus countered.

"You'll need all of your strength to fend me off," Sanji said, launching himself skyward and nimbly sprinting forward on nothing but air, his leg wreathed in seething flame.

Zoro tempered his surprise, keeping his keen eyes on his attacker's movements. He evaded and blocked a furious series of kicks licked with fire, then threw a flying slash that was quickly dodged.

_Incredible,_ he thought.

"Tell you what. If you win, you can have the bed," the cook told him, upping the ante.

Zoro's interest was piqued. "When I win, I might be convinced to share," he said in a dark, sultry tone.

The cook rolled his eyes. "You're fighting so shitty right now you might as well start picking out which part of the floor you want to sleep on," he said with a derisive laugh.

"Oh, I'll get that bed," Zoro arrogantly replied, dragging his transparent swords through the air while weaving in his energy and spinning it into another giant, slashing whirlwind that cut rock and metal in its path.

He saw the cook dart out of the way at the last moment, but he was ready for him. Zoro leapt to the upper level and cleanly sliced stalactites so that the car-sized spikes rained down on the ring below where Sanji had been escaping to.

From the cloud of dust, an arc of flame lanced through, searing Zoro across the chest. He grimaced and jumped down into the mire, using his keen hearing to pinpoint shuffling in the rubble.

He crept forward in the blinding cloud that was still falling, the cook's scent becoming stronger. The incubus followed it into a small locker room with an open shower area off of the main cavern, his head on a swivel as he listened for any sound that might betray his quarry's location.

A scraping behind him was immediately followed by a kick a draft horse would have been proud of as he was launched into the tiled wall of the showers, leaving an enormous crater and ripping one of the spigots off of the wall. A geyser of water sprayed out like a miniature fire hydrant, soaking Zoro completely. The incubus lay sprawled face down, groaning.

A deep, rich laugh echoed behind him, getting closer. "Pathetic, marimo. You let a human do this to you?" the cook said snarkily.

"Damn it," Zoro growled into the tile.

The gloating cook took another step forward, and the incubus took the opportunity to grab his ankle, pulling him down to the floor with him into the direct path of the spray of water.

Sanji didn't miss a beat, using his strong legs to pin Zoro in a vice-like hold. The incubus broke it by rolling out of it, and the two began to grapple on the shower floor for dominance.

Pinning grasps became caresses in disguise as each began to steal touches from the other, sliding hands over soaked clothes and across water-beaded skin as they rolled across the floor, their competition quickly forgotten. The world seemed to tilt as Zoro's thoughts flew in a dizzying torrent around him, riding on soaring emotions as he found the cook underneath of him.

The deluge from the shower pelted them with heavy drops as Zoro surged forward, covering cook's inviting smirk with his lips.

Sanji inhaled a sharp breath in surprise, but his reservations were quickly kissed away by the invading incubus as he allowed Zoro to sink down on top of him.

But the cook wasn't about to be conquered. He launched his own attack on Zoro, biting the incubus's bottom lip and sucking on it for a few moments before slipping his tongue into his mouth.

The incubus was unable to hide his delight, humming through the kiss and rubbing his tongue against the other man's as he cupped Sanji's jaw. If the cook was about to be spooked and run in a few moments, he was sure as hell going to enjoy what little time he had.

Sure, he technically could influence him to stay with his powers. But Sanji's touch, freely given, was driving him completely wild. The last thing he wanted was to chain him down without a choice. He wanted him free, unleashed, even if that meant a kick in the face in the end.

Zoro guided the other man's hand to his broad chest, coaxing the cook to explore the muscular landscape that he seemed to enjoy last time. Sanji's shallow breathing tickled the incubus's cheek as his fingers consumed his defined upper body with a passion that ripped through any shred of self control that he had left.

The incubus carefully slid his knee in between Sanji's legs and began painting erotic strokes against his blatant arousal. The cook screwed his eyes shut, squeezing Zoro's bicep as he moaned softly against his lips.

Zoro started slow, pushing his hands through Sanji's fine hair, then tracing a delicate path along his neck on a slow journey downwards. The incubus eventually arrived at his lower stomach, the place where he got derailed last time.

His fingertips lightly grazed the naked flesh of Sanji's belly as he pushed up his shirt, intensifying his kisses as his fingers slid teasingly under his waistband. The incubus noticed that the cook was having a hard time keeping his ass on the floor as his hips kept gravitating up towards him. A good sign.

Zoro decided to risk it, searching out the cool metal of Sanji's button before undoing it and dragging his zipper open. The cook gasped against the other man's mouth, his fingers desperately clutching onto Zoro's forearm like claws.

The incubus delved into the opening and slipped his hand into the window of his boxers, covering his feverishly hot erection. Zoro drew out Sanji's cock, sensuously swirling his thumb over his head and causing the other man to let out a breathy whimper at his touch and reflexively push himself into the incubus's palm.

Zoro stole a glance down at Sanji plunging into his hand and he shuddered, his eyes flashing with warm, luminous silver flecks as he stared hungrily at the wisps of the cook's waiting energy waving teasingly before him.

He left the cook's mouth and crawled down his body as he placed a trail of kisses down his belly, causing exciting, aching heat to flood into Sanji's groin.

"Do you trust me?" Zoro whispered, gently pumping Sanji's hard-on in his fist, his warm breath sinking into the fabric of his pants. He braced himself for the cook's reaction.

Sanji's pulse flew as he nodded, his lips parted in a silent moan at the touch. "Yeah," he said breathlessly, one hand pulling his pants open to give Zoro better access.

The incubus continued to stroke him in smooth passes. "If you hate it, I'll stop" he told him.

Zoro withdrew with a teasing brush of his fingers and positioned his face in between his legs. He felt shivering tremors run down the cook's thighs in anticipation.

The incubus gave the head of Sanji's cock a slow, languid lick, pulling just a hint of his enticing energy into him to enhance the sensation. Sanji bit his lip and sat up on his elbows, watching with a half-lidded stare as the incubus took his entire length completely into his mouth in one smooth motion. The cook groaned, throwing his head back as he slowly crumpled back down on the floor.

Zoro was unrelenting as he withdrew up the cook's dick, his lips tightly ringing his thickness as he sucked him all the way up to the top while his tongue delivered circling licks over his head deep in his mouth. Then he dropped down on him again, the tip of his tongue riding along the sensitive veins on the underside of Sanji's cock as his mouth slid down on him.

The cook hissed, covering his face with his hands. "You asshole," he croaked through his fingers.

Zoro gave a snort. He bobbed up and down on him, allowing Sanji to push deep into his mouth. He absorbed more of his life force, causing a molten flood of pleasure to pour through the other man's bloodstream.

"Marimo," Sanji moaned his nickname, fisting handfuls of Zoro's soft green hair.

The incubus began to lick his cock like an ice cream cone, catching the sensitive tip on the most textured part of his tongue. Sanji groaned and writhed, the pleasure soaking completely into him like a hot summer rain.

Zoro stroked the flat area under the cook's balls as he took him into his mouth again. The incubus grinned devilishly around his cock as he found what he was looking for, then pushed the button, kneading circles into his G spot through his skin.

The cook cried out, arching his back and thrusting hard up into Zoro's mouth until the green-haired man was kissing the skin around the base of his dick. The incubus took every advantage of having the other man's entire length trapped completely in him as he lashed him over and over again with his tongue.

The incubus ravenously drank another sip of Sanji's elegant energy, made all the more delicious by the cook's climb towards his climax. Zoro began to taste the light, earthy flavor of precome spreading through his mouth and he greedily lapped at the source, savoring the luscious, pearly sample on his tongue like fine sake before swallowing it.

Sanji's voice echoed off of the metal lockers, electric shivers dancing across his skin as the incubus's power flowed through him like a fast river. Zoro held the cook's lower body down as the other man clawed onto his hair and rocked against his grasp, and by the taste of his energy the incubus he knew it wouldn't be long until his favorite part.

Black feathery wings settled possessively around Sanji, sheltering him from the spray of water as he pumped a steady pace. The cook's energy began to blossom like a flower, bathing Zoro in the raw beauty of his life force that made the incubus's heart start to unfold like petals itself.

Sanji shuddered as he cried out hoarsely, hot spurts of his release shooting in shivering pulses down Zoro's throat, where the incubus drank it completely as he consumed the rich ambrosia of his orgasm.

Zoro could hear the the other man's heart racing as he watched him lie panting on the tile with unfocused eyes. The incubus absentmindedly stroked Sanji's arm as he considered taking it further, his own unattended erection aching to lay first claim to the cook's obviously untested body. He recalled the freakout from yesterday and decided this was about as far as he wanted to push it. This time.

Sanji got up and slowly stumbled to a dry bench to recover. Zoro found some clean towels and tossed him one, then turned around and began flapping and shaking his wings to dry them, frowning as he felt the tatters of his t-shirt sagging around where the black feathers had ripped through it as they emerged.

Yet another ruined shirt, Zoro thought in annoyance. No wonder even the highest born incubi and succubi usually maintained their glamour even though they didn't give a shit about the comfort of humans. When he concentrated on it, he could slide his wings down his back to the bottom edge of a loose shirt without ripping it as they came out, but he was a touch bit distracted this time.

His eyes traced the pattern of tile on the floor as he went through the motions of wiping himself off with the fluffy towel, listening to the shuffle of the cook behind him doing the same.

Something had changed.

He could no longer deny that he was plainly getting in over his head with the guy who had been nothing but an ass to him ever since they had first met.

Zoro reminded himself of a perfect example when he had inadvertently washed a seasoned cast iron pan in the Baratie's commercial dishwasher. Sanji kicked him out of the back door of the restaurant so hard it launched him through the windshield of Owner Zeff's car.

The incubus gave an amused grunt at the memory, one which had never failed to piss him off in the past. He slapped his palm across his face.

Things were worse than he thought.

Zoro threw a look over his shoulder as he heard a gentle footfall behind him.

"You still have your pretty face on, marimo," the cook said, grinding his teeth and straining to contain himself as he stared at the incubus hungrily, his aura blazing with renewed sexuality.

"Shit," Zoro cursed, seeing that Sanji was clearly uncomfortable. He veiled himself in his mundane human appearance and watched as the cook visibly relaxed.

"We need to talk, but I don't even know where to fucking start," Sanji said as soon as he could think straight again, scowling as he took out his cigarettes and tossing the ruined pack on the floor with a wet slap.

The incubus crossed his arms. "We can start where I won the bed," he said, the corners of his mouth climbing up into a smirk.

"We both lost, idiot, in more ways than one," Sanji said bleakly.

"Stop freaking out. It felt good and both of us were into it. Leave it at that," Zoro said nonchalantly, rubbing his hair with his towel.

"Marimo," Sanji said, unease tinting his voice.

"Yeah?" the other man grunted, peeking from the towel over his head.

"I'm not going to be your donor," he told him, his voice tight.

Zoro raised an eyebrow, pulling the towel down around his neck, his full attention on the cook.

"I think I'd have to take more than a few mouthfuls of energy from you to qualify as donating," the incubus replied, searching Sanji's face for a reason why uncertainty was wandering like a stranger in his sapphire eye.

The blue gem burned coldly into Zoro. "What do you mean, just a few mouthfuls?" Sanji asked him, squinting in confusion.

Zoro approached him, breaching the cook's circle of personal space. "Since you freaked out on me last time, I took just enough to make you feel good without affecting your self control," the incubus said, cupping Sanji's chin and lightly stroking his goatee.

"Stop that," the cook said, pushing his hand away with less force than Zoro had anticipated.

"You just wanted to see if I'd let you get me off without your power!" Sanji growled, his curly eyebrows diving down as the fire of eternal annoyance towards the incubus was relit.

The green-haired man recognized that look well. "I just didn't want you to be able to blame my power for you liking it," he said, his eyes flicking to the fragments of desire lingering in the cook's aura.

"Well, congratulations, it worked! You must think I'm pretty pathetic, writhing under you like one of your cheap lays!" Sanji shouted, full of bitter fury.

"You are NOT a cheap lay," Zoro breathed out angrily.

"Then what am I?" he demanded.

The incubus's eyes narrowed. "Do you really want us to put a name to whatever the hell this is, shit cook? Because we can," he warned.

Sanji's jaw dropped as he hunted for the truth in Zoro's eyes, which were shifting to a pewter color as his stress levels rose.

"This didn't mean anything, right?" the cook spoke a little more loudly as his vocal chords betrayed his panic.

"Of course not!" Zoro insisted as his gaze shifted, breaking eye contact.

Sanji didn't miss the subtle aversion.

"You're a shitty liar," he said.

Zoro didn't deny it. "What if it did?" he asked cautiously.

"Shit, I could really use a smoke right now," the cook muttered as he turned his back to Zoro, rubbing his temples and exhaling heavily. He was still for a long moment, gathering his thoughts before he turned back to face the incubus.

"Look, I know emotions have been running high since you and I have been on the run, so it's natural that we've gotten closer. But it's not going to end well if that keeps up," the cook explained.

"You don't know that," Zoro heard himself say.

Sanji's uncovered eye widened, full of fury. "Yes. Yes I do. I'm not interested in becoming something more, because if I did have a lover, I sure as hell wouldn't let them fuck other people," he said, his tone as sharp as a splinter of glass.

"Oi, what the hell do you mean by that? Is this about me being an incubus?" Zoro demanded.

"I'm just making sure neither one of us wastes our time," the cook said coldly.

"Sex to get energy is completely different than making love. It's the difference between it meaning something or nothing," the incubus growled, crossing his arms.

"No, the difference is that what means nothing to you means something to me. If I'm going devote both my body and mind to someone, I expect the same in return," he replied, his posture stiffening as if he was being frozen solid from within.

Zoro suddenly wondered why he cared at all about potentially being with Sanji. He wasn't interested. This had gotten too deep, had become way more complicated than just cornering someone and making them feel good.

Still, his traitorous mind scrambled to decide whether he could really take from one person alone without hurting either party. He had almost done so with Perona.

But he knew it would always be almost, not unless he wanted to make very good friends with hunger, which could be dangerous in itself. What was he supposed to do if Sanji went out of town or got sick and couldn't feed him? Plus feeding too much off of one person could kill them.

"What if…" Zoro began, but he cut himself short. "Never mind," he mumbled with a gruff sigh, choosing to allow the fragile opportunity to escape his grasp. Even though he wasn't interested, it pissed him off that the rejection came down to a question of something so innate to his very being, necessary for his basic survival.

"I'm going back to the room," Sanji said quietly, standing to leave. Zoro watched as he paused at the door frame as if he had something to say, then shook his head, leaving the incubus alone to find his own way from there.

After he had gone, Zoro let out a disgusted huff of air, slamming his fist against the lockers and creating a crumpled crater in the row of metal doors.

He didn't know why anger was overflowing his mood like water pouring into a sinking ship, weighing him down with a heavy flood of hurt and regret. If Sanji wanted to discriminate, it was really no concern of his.

Or was it?

As infuriating as the cook was, something about him stuck. And kept sticking.

He realized in that moment he would never be free of it, and like dense clouds of fog lifted by the morning sun, the truth of what he wanted became bright and beautifully clear.

He wanted Sanji.  
  


* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

  
  
_Ok, this is an extra just for fun, not part of the story really! I wondered what it would be like if Law gave Zoro some relationship advice…_

When Zoro exited the room, Law was leaning on the wall just outside his door, arms crossed.

"What do you want?" the incubus snapped at his ally.

"I've been looking for you. I'm making sure you stay focused on the task at hand and that you're not distracted when things start to go down," he said.

"Fuck off. I'll be good for it," Zoro grumbled.

"No need to get angry. I'm just here to offer you some advice... relationship advice," that tattooed man said awkwardly.

"You've got to be kidding me. For one, there is no relationship! Second, what would a guy like you know about relationships?" the incubus scoffed.

"More than you, I think," Law replied indignantly.

"Enlighten me, then," Zoro said smugly, lifting an eyebrow.

"I think you should just fuck Sanji-ya and get him out of your system," Law suggested.

Zoro barked a laugh. "I know enough about fucking to know that doesn't work. And how do you know I haven't screwed him already?"

"Because as a donor, I can tell you're hungry. Look at you. You already look defeated. How about flowers?" the other man suggested.

"You got any flowers?" Zoro growled.

The other man shook his head.

"How about this? I'll be your lover for the week. I just need your head clear so you don't screw up the whole plan. Things aren't going to be easy from here on out, particularly for you," Law offered.

"What the hell are you going to do, hold my hand?" Zoro asked, unimpressed.

"Yes...free of charge," Law said.

"Uh huh. And sex?" the incubus inquired with an annoyed scowl.

"At a steep discount," the other man bargained.

"Hell no. Is Nami giving you these lines? Next you'll be offering coupons for your services!" Zoro huffed, throwing up his hands.

"Fine, I'll do a buy one, get one free if it makes you happy," Law sighed, squinting his gray eyes at the incubus.

"Oh my god," Zoro groaned as he covered his face with his palm.

"Alright, in all seriousness...tell him he has nice eyes," the dark-haired man suggested.

"Seriously Law, are you getting these from Cosmo magazine or something?" Zoro growled, at his wit's end.

"Hmph. You just don't know a thing about romance," Law said snootily.

"Neither do you! I can give better advice than you! Look, if you really want to be with someone, tell them how you feel, and then spend time with them. Actually listen to what they have to say. Sure, flowers and stuff like that are ok sometimes, but when you want someone, just put in the damn effort to get closer to them!" the incubus passionately yelled at him.

"Good advice," Law said craftily. "Now take it." He spun on his heel and sauntered off, a knowing smirk on his face.

Zoro's mouth dropped open as he watched him leave.

"What the hell were you screaming about, shitty marimo? You know other people are trying to concentrate on doing actually useful things here," Sanji said as he walked up, giving the incubus a pointed glare.

Zoro gulped anxiously, slowly turning around.

"How do you feel about flowers?" he asked.


	13. Chapter 13

Sanji nearly tore the door of its hinges in his haste to enter the room, violently snatching the clothes he had worn the day before off of the bed.

The frustrated cook ripped the wet pants from his body, a rosy glow dawning like a sunrise across his face as he saw he was still hanging out of the front panel of his boxers.

Evidence that it did indeed happen.

He stole a glance at himself in the slivers of mirror that still remained after he kicked Zoro into it and saw someone who was hunched over in shame.

Sanji was putting on his dry clothes when his phone rang from the pocket of his pants that were crumpled on the floor. He pulled out the slightly soggy device and saw that it was from an unregistered number. Normally, he'd just reject these types of calls, but seeing as Zeff was still missing he quickly answered.

"Hello?" he said apprehensively, hoping that it was his father and not some telemarketer.

"Hello Sanji. Saw you on the news," the smug voice on the other line replied with malicious pleasure.

"Who the hell is this?" Sanji demanded.

"I'd watch it if you don't want this old man to end up like your pathetic restaurant," the voice purred.

His veins felt the icy burn of pure terror. "What? You have him?!" the cook blurted out, now pacing the room.

"I have some leftover gasoline, too. You've already seen that we don't mind destroying what's dear to you. But if you do what I tell you, he'll be just fine," the speaker said with cruel satisfaction, like a spider smiling down on its trapped, squirming prey.

"I'm not doing anything until you let me talk to him," the cook challenged.

He heard the scuffle of the phone moving.

"Eggplant?" a familiar, gruff voice croaked.

"Are you alright?! I'm going to get you out of there!" the cook desperately promised.

Muffled sounds slid across the receiver again.

_"Don't do anything they say!"_ Zeff yelled in the background before the sound of a dull thud silenced him.

"Are you ready to listen now?" his father's captor asked impatiently.

"What do you want me to do?" Sanji said softly, his voice a shadow of itself.

"I'll tell you when we meet. If you tell anyone about this, he dies. And trust me, we'll know," the speaker ruthlessly warned.

Sanji leaned his arm against the cold wall and rested his head in the bend of his elbow as he listened to the kidnapper outline what he was to do next.

* * *

Luffy and Sabo weren't expecting the utterly panicked cook when he marched straight up to them in the cafeteria, his frigid eye the color of the heart of an ancient glacier.

"I need to get off of the island," Sanji stated, foregoing pleasantries as he nervously rolled his cigarette between his thumb and index fingers.

Sabo frowned, concern knitting his eyebrows. "Is there an emergency?"

"Yeah. I need to get to the mainland," the cook insisted again, his jaw anxiously clenching down on the smoldering cigarette he brought to his lips.

"What happened?" Luffy asked, intently leaning forward in his seat.

"I'm sorry Luffy, but it's personal," he replied, shoving his fidgeting hands in his pockets to still them.

"I'm going to call the dock right now to make sure, but I'm afraid that no boats can come or leave until after high tide," Sabo replied apologetically.

"When will it recede?" the cook asked quickly.

"Late afternoon. Why don't you come to the meeting? It might take your mind off of it while you can't do anything about it right now," Sabo suggested.

They managed to calm Sanji enough to convince him to sit down and eat with them. Zoro appeared, having aimlessly wandered in and joined them, his eye on Sanji as he sunk down into his seat.

The cook was tapping his fingers on the table, a cloud hanging around him from his excess smoking. The incubus raised an eyebrow.

"You ok?" he asked in a low voice.

"None of your business," Sanji snapped.

Zoro sighed, resolving to refrain from touching the cook again if he going to keep getting this jumpy about it. This back and forth was killing him.

"So what is this meeting about exactly? Who's going to be there?" Zoro asked, getting distracted by the vibrations of the cook's knee nervously bouncing underneath the table.

"Well, most of the heads of the Revolutionary Army will be there, plus Trafalgar Law and a few other allies who aren't technically affiliated with us. We get to decide if we're going to endorse you for the throne and give you help," Sabo briefed him.

"What about Crocodile?" Zoro asked coldly. He could still picture the man's cruel, scarred face as he lashed him bloody with whips of sand.

Sabo cocked his head to the side, giving Zoro a strange look. "I haven't heard that name in a while. He's no longer here. He betrayed us to the incubi ages ago," the Revolutionary told him. "Why do you ask?"

"Because if he was still around, I would have told you all to fuck off," the incubus snapped aggressively, his glamour flickering off and on.

Sanji stood up to slap some sense into his stupid coworker, but Luffy beat him to it.

"I found out what the secret was, Zoro," he garbled through the mouthfuls of Sanji's untouched lunch that he was shoveling into his mouth while the cook was distracted.

"I don't think now is the time," Sabo tried to reason, a fervent warning in his tone.

Luffy swallowed the food down with a loud gulp, ignoring his brother. "What would you do if you found out that Crocodile was my father?" he asked evenly.

Zoro's eyebrows jumped. "That's impossible," he scoffed.

"No it isn't. That's my secret. My father is someone here who you really hate," Luffy said. "You should really think about who you want as your successor."

The incubus studied Luffy for a long time before he lurched over the table and picked up his wiry body, throwing him over his shoulder and walking off.

"Take me through the buffet line again!" his roommate demanded from his back, squirming around.

"No, I need to talk to you alone," the incubus insisted, hauling him through the men's room door and locking it behind them. He set the smaller man down.

"Don't be stupid. You already know you're the only one I want to take the throne," Zoro explained indignantly.

"That's my dream. But I don't want to hurt my friends to achieve it," Luffy said with a wan smile. He rested his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Zoro, I'm the son of the head of the Revolutionary Army."

* * *

"You couldn't have told me that earlier?!" Zoro bellowed.

"I didn't think it was a big deal! I've never even met him!" Luffy insisted.

"It is a big deal! Can you imagine what the Revolutionaries will try to pull when their leader's son is on the throne?!" Zoro sighed, emptying his lungs in one frustrated breath.

"It doesn't even matter!" Luffy bit back, angling every inch of his short stature to yell into the incubus's face.

"Yes it does! Sabo could sweet talk you into doing anything your father wanted!"

"That's not true. And you have been mean to Sabo from the moment you saw him!" Luffy pointed out, his eyes locked onto Zoro's with single minded focus.

"That's because he threatened me and then tried to hide this secret from me! You should take a closer look at your piece of shit brother and his friends, Luffy!" the incubus exploded, kicking a trash can against the wall.

"Sabo isn't a piece of shit, Zoro!" Luffy barked.

"Yeah, there are better names for him, like manipulative, two-faced-"

Sanji and Sabo watched in horror as the door to the restroom flew off of its hinges and Zoro's body catapulted across the cafeteria and crashed through a row of empty tables and chairs.

The incubus crawled out of the wreckage, a deep, bleeding gash over one eye slowly healing as he unleashed his blades of energy to guard against his pursuing friend.

"You didn't even give him a chance!" Luffy leapt over the heap, stretching his arm back as he jumped after him.

"Stop it!" Zoro shouted, rolling to avoid a heavy, corkscrewing punch. The surrounding Revolutionaries ran to keep from getting caught in the ferocious fight.

"This is about you trusting me to do what's right, no matter if anyone else likes it or not!" Luffy shouted, catching Zoro's face yet again with a long, whipping kick before the swordsman could block.

"I never cared that you weren't human!" the rubbery young man yelled, winding up another punch. "And you shouldn't care about something I can't help, either!"

Through his blurry, one-eyed vision, Zoro watched as Sanji stepped in between them with his arms spread wide.

"Quit it, both of you!" Sanji commanded loudly. The entire cafeteria became still as the fight abruptly halted.

"What's wrong with you? Is it so hard to play nice?" the cook admonished them like he was scolding a couple of preschoolers.

The cook stepped over the mangled chairs and loomed over Zoro, his hands in his pockets. "Pathetic," he muttered.

The incubus slid a couple of chairs off of himself, crawling out of the nest of furniture.

"Does that just heal up on its own?" Sanji asked, trying in vain to put a damper on his concern for the deep gash over his eye.

"It should," Zoro grumbled, exhaustion settling into his limbs.

Luffy stepped beside him, crossing his arms. "You know you'll always be my friend, even if you are a stubborn asshole. I'm still pissed at you," he said very seriously.

"I'm always pissed off at this asshole for something," Sanji scoffed, crossing his arms in disappointment.

Sabo rushed over, scratching his head in absolute bewilderment. "Well that was unfortunate," he grimaced at the destruction.

Zoro wiped his bloody face with the back of his arm. "We'll talk about this later," he grumbled, his eye flicking between Luffy and Sanji.

* * *

They patched Zoro up the best they could while his healing power caught up, but the meeting was about to begin. They would have to get through it with their wounds raw, both literally and figuratively.

Sabo rushed them through roughly cut tunnels in the rock until they opened up into a large, natural cavern. A huge rod iron chandelier had been strung in the center of the space over a long u-shaped set of tables. Various people, most of whom Zoro didn't recognize, milled about making small talk before the meeting began.

There were about 20 people at the small tribunal, including Sabo, Inazuma, and Koala. The din of the crowd wilted as a serious-looking man with a slashing red tattoo that covered one side of his face was seated. Zoro could feel Luffy stiffen beside him. Law, who was seated across from them at another arm of tables, stared openly at his allies, assessing their reactions.

"Greetings, everyone. We would like to welcome and thank Prince Roronoa Zoro Kaizoku Gari Shimotsuki for joining us today," Dragon announced.

Sanji raised a curly eyebrow at the name, purposefully catching Zoro's eye.

The incubus leaned over. "I have three more names he didn't say," he whispered.

"He's a charming candy boy, isn't he?" Ivan chimed in. "But how does he plan to make himself useful?" he inquired pointedly in his unplaceable accent.

"You intend to make Luffy your successor and defeat Lucci, correct?" Dragon asked.

"That's right. With or without you," Zoro replied harshly. "To be honest, I'm not thrilled to work with you because of what happened last time I was here," he said.

"Of course not. You attacked a girl last time you were here," a voice from the other side of the table spoke up. A man who looked like he could have been someone's kindly grandpa and had lips like a fish spoke.

"Hack! That's not true!" Koala whispered, her blue eyes pleading with her colleague to calm himself.

"What? No I didn't!" Zoro said irately, a little caught off guard.

"Crocodile told us you assaulted and fed from his teenage niece," Hack continued, unable to hold his decade-long vendetta back any longer.

"I did feed from her, but Vivi agreed to it. Just call her and ask her about it!" the incubus proposed as he steadily glared down his accuser.

"Remember, Crocodile betrayed us and tried to give Zoro to the new regime while he was here. You really trust that traitor's words over his?" Sabo spoke up in Zoro's defense.

"That's right! Zoro would never do anything like that!" Luffy yelled indignantly.

"She confirmed Crocodile's testimony to me back then," Hack said stubbornly, still determined to seek justice for the crime.

"I also heard her telling people this," Ivan gravely confirmed.

"He probably threatened her! Making you hate me must have really made it easier for him to convince you to let him drop me off with my family's killers," the incubus growled, every muscle in his body twisting up tightly with rage.

"Everybody calm down. We can give Vivi a call, but these allegations are not the point of this meeting," Dragon inserted into the fight.

"I'm sorry Dragon, but I can't forget this, and I don't feel like we need to work with the Prince to accomplish our goals. I refuse to work with a rapist!" the fish-lipped man declared.

"Look, hate him if you must, but we have the opportunity to change this kingdom forever! Put your petty complaints aside, because Zoro is patiently sitting right there, wanting to help us make things better for humans!" Koala passionately gestured, rising out of her chair.

"These crimes are not petty. Sometimes the means don't justify the ends," Hack argued. "Who would like to vote on it?!"

The room erupted into rampant arguing.

Luffy leaned back in his chair, knowing that the only opinions that mattered to him in this room were Zoro and Sanji's. And perhaps Law, who he caught staring at him from across the room with an unreadable expression. He, Law, and Dragon seemed to be the only ones still in their seats.

Sanji stepped calmly up on the table, lighting a cigarette. The smell of smoke turned people's heads.

"I'm not going to sit here while people speak lies about my friend. Give us a ship, because we're done here," he said unemotionally. He hopped off of the table and patted the incubus's shoulder.

"Come on, marimo. There are ways you can win this without their help," he whispered.

As Zoro followed him out, he realized that he had never admired the cook more.

* * *

After they left, Luffy brazenly stood in the empty area in the horseshoe of tables as Dragon requested everyone return to their seats so they could discuss what had just happened.

The dark-haired boy cleared his throat and took the floor without permission.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be the next King. I don't care what any of you think, I'm going to follow my own path. Anyone who wants to hurt my friends goes through me first," he declared, hands on his hips.

Luffy's intense eyes shot up to Dragon. "And I don't care if you are my dad! Zoro is my best friend, and if you're against him, you're against me too."

A shockwave of surprised gasps and sneers from some of the attendees echoed up through the stalactites crowning the chamber.

Dragon gave a slight, amused smile as he tilted his head, his dark eyes filling with a proud warmth at his son's defiance.

"Alright! You ready to go, Torao?" Luffy called over, his rubbery arm stretching out to pluck him from his seat.

The grumpy, tattooed man growled and stood, deflecting the limb with a vexed slap.

"Unfortunately, you and Roronoa-ya are still the best chance for me to complete my goal," he muttered, flicking a jaded look over at Dragon, who made a small hand sign to the guards at the door.

"Stay. I have some things I need to discuss with you, Trafalgar," Dragon told him, motioning for him to sit.

"Shit," Law spat, realizing that they weren't going to be able to leave so easily. With a single whispered command, a hazy blue dome expanded from a spinning torrent under his hand, and instantly he and Luffy were in the tunnels leading to the dock.

"That is so cool, Torao!" Luffy laughed, running ahead.

"Shut up. We have to get out of here," he said just as sirens started blaring along the hallway.

* * *

When Zoro and Sanji got to the dock, they found Nico Robin arriving.

"Robin-chwan!" the cook waved to her, relief in his face. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

Robin chuckled softly. "Looks like I missed the meeting," she observed.

"Please, Robin-chan. I need a ride," the cook begged. "It's important."

A pang flared in Zoro's chest. "What do you need to do? Law could take you," he offered, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I'm sorry, marimo. This is where I leave our little crew. Good luck capturing the crown," he told him with a bittersweet smile.

A chorus of alarms suddenly began to howl, stirring the dormant guards at the docks into action.

"That must have been some meeting," Robin chuckled, her blue eyes shimmering with perverse amusement. "Very well, I will take you," she agreed as she climbed back onto her ship.

Luffy and Law emerged from the tunnel at a dead run headed towards Law's yellow trawler, knocking aside guards with their respective Devil Fruit powers.

"Zoro!" Luffy called to him. "Get on the ship, we have to go!"

The incubus darted forward and grabbed the cook's arm.

"Come with me," Zoro implored. "If this is about what happened…"

"It's not about that. There's just something I have to do," Sanji said gently, pulling away from him.

"When will I see you again?" the incubus asked, unwilling to let go just yet.

Both of Zoro's allies had already hopped onto the boat. Men began pouring from the tunnels into the cavern in pursuit.

"Roronoa-ya, we have to leave now!" Law yelled at him.

"I don't know," Sanji said, strange shades of sorrow coloring his voice.

"We're not leaving without Zoro!" the incubus heard Luffy shout at Law from the deck.

With a last, fleeting glimpse at one another, they broke apart and leapt aboard their separate ships. Law immediately revved the engine and sped rather unsafely through the cave back to open ocean. Zoro lingered on the deck until his saw Robin's ship make it out as well.

The incubus sighed heavily and disappeared into the cabin, slumping down at the miniature dining table.

"What the hell did you guys do?" Zoro grumbled the question, his foul mood radiating from him like rising steam.

"It was awesome. I told everyone and my dad that I wasn't going to do what they said. Then I grabbed Torao and we ran," Luffy explained, shrugging.

"That's not enough of a reason to try to stop you. Law?" Zoro called to the front of the ship. "Did they find out about you stealing intel?"

"More than likely. And the fact that they don't want to let me out of their sight because of my connections with the palace. I have access to information they could only dream of having. And I could hurt them in ways that no one else could, if I wanted to. You see, I belong to the Doflamingo family," he told them with a hateful smirk.

* * *

* * *

* * *

_This doesn't have anything really to do with the story!_

_Since everyone seemed to enjoy the extra little short last time, I present to you:_

_The Continuing Adventures of Trafalgar Law: Matchmaker!_

* * *

Law slunk over to Zoro just as Sanji left the room.

"Not that it's a holiday that I particularly like, but tomorrow just so happens to be Valentine's Day, and I thought it would be an excellent time to implement our plan, Roronoa-ya," Law smirked.

"Plan? What plan?! I don't celebrate that stupid holiday either, you know!" Zoro griped, crossing his arms.

"You do now," Law said, handing him a heart-shaped box of candy. "Give it to him," he ordered.

Zoro slapped it out of his hand and the box flew open, pelting Law's face with chocolates. The tattooed man frowned and picked one out of his hair, nibbling on it.

"The cook doesn't like store-bought anything when it comes to food!" the incubus said with a snarl.

"You sure know a lot about his preferences for someone who pretends not to care about him," the tattooed man responded flatly.

"Oi! I only know because he bitches about it all the time," Zoro explained, a faint blush gracing his cheeks.

"Hmm. Well since we can't buy it, you will be making the food, then," the other man decided.

"No way! I don't cook!" Zoro objected.

"You really have no useful life skills, do you?" Law sighed, narrowing his eyes at the incubus.

"I don't know how to fix human food because I don't eat it!" Zoro snapped.

"I'm prepared to offer incentive," Law said, brandishing a tall bottle.

"That isn't…?!" the incubus whispered, gaping openly at it.

"That's right, this is a bottle of Whiskey Peak. Aged to perfection by top-ranking Baroque Works company members. Look at the trademark white wax seal. It's legit," the tattooed man told him.

"I'll do it," Zoro said hastily.

* * *

Law left Zoro in the kitchen with no more than a recipe and a good luck. Within the hour, the incubus had come no closer to making a cake than when he had started, plus flour was spread everywhere, dusting the counters, covering the floor around him, and even sprinkled in his hair.

The incubus was starting to wonder if he should just cut his losses and start cleaning up, but then he thought about Sanji.

And how that smug, pansy asshole of a cook would never let him live it down if he weren't able to make something as simple as a stupid cake.

Gripping the recipe in his fist, Zoro went back to work.

* * *

Sanji slipped off his designer tie, hung up his good suit coat, then fell back on the bed with a sigh. His date had canceled tonight, and he would be alone for Valentine's Day. Again.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he groaned.

Law stepped in, his grey eyes brimming with cunning satisfaction. "How are you doing, Sanji-ya?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm ok. Robin-chan had something come up, so I'm not going out after all," the cook replied, disappointed.

"You don't say," Law said with feigned innocence.

"What are you doing here?" Sanji asked suspiciously.

The dark-haired man shrugged. "Someone gave me this nice liquor. Thought you could use it for cooking or something," he said, passing the cook the dark glass bottle then sauntering out of the room.

* * *

Law returned to the kitchen, which had gotten a second dusting of flour along with a few broken eggs on the floor. Zoro, who looked like he had fallen into a bathtub of batter, was at the counter carefully icing the ugliest cake Law had ever seen. The incubus looked up as he walked towards him.

"Why am I even doing this?" Zoro gestured at the lopsided confection, decorated in blue blobs of frosting which the other man decided were probably fish.

Law walked behind him to look over his shoulder as the incubus returned to his work.

"I don't know. Why are you doing it?" the tattooed man asked.

Zoro sighed. "I don't know. Besides that nice bottle of Whiskey Peak, maybe I thought somehow this would push him over the edge. Everytime we start getting close, things go right back to where we started. So I guess this is kind of a message. But I don't think this hideous thing really says 'I want more.' I think it just says 'I messed up your kitchen, please kick my ass,'" he grunted.

"Can't it say both?" a familiar, smoky voice asked from behind him.

Zoro spun around, and in place of Law stood Sanji.

"H-How?" the incubus stuttered.

"I'm going to guess that Law switched us out with his Devil Fruit power," Sanji said distractedly, his eye on the cake.

"You baked this for me?" he asked in disbelief, stepping over some egg shells to examine Zoro's handiwork.

"Happy Valentine's Day, I guess," Zoro muttered, embarrassed.

Sanji dipped a finger in the frosting and sucked on his finger, his eye locking onto Zoro's.

"Don't quit your day job, marimo," he lightly coughed, his nose crinkling at the taste.

"I guess I'll clean up before you kick my ass," Zoro sighed, moving to get the broom.

"Wait," Sanji said abruptly. "I mean, it is Valentine's Day, and I was just going to go back to the room alone, but maybe we can share this bottle of Whiskey Peak Law gave me if you promise to clean up right after," he blurted out.

The broom handle fell from Zoro's hands, and he eagerly tore off his floured apron and fell in step side by side with Sanji down the hall.

Law stepped out of the shadows, watching after them.

"Happy Valentines Day," he muttered, tucking a heart-shaped box of candy under his arm and leaving them to their own devices.


	14. Chapter 14

"You're a slave?!" Zoro exclaimed.

"Mmm," Law acknowledged. "I should say escaped slave. I still trade Revolutionary secrets for palace information and vice versa with a few of the stupider members of the Don Quixote Family. They're surprisingly accurate," he noted.

In a sliver of a second, Zoro was on his feet and in Law's face. "If you've double-crossed them to the palace, then you've probably double-crossed us too," he said in a low growl, his emotions no longer able to process the perceived threat rationally after being ripped to shreds by Sanji's unexplained departure.

"And if I have?" Law provoked, pushing the incubus to the brink.

A blue-white sword flickered threateningly to life.

Luffy sharply pushed Zoro away, inserting himself in between them.

"Stop it! He hasn't betrayed us!" he yelled.

Law's face scrunched up in open irritation of his trust. "Tch. Wouldn't you feel stupid if I had?" he said scornfully.

"Why would I? I wouldn't be the one betraying us," Luffy explained, blinking.

Zoro let out a held breath, his shoulders relaxing. "Fine, but you're responsible for kicking his ass if he turns on us," he muttered, flopping back down at the table.

"You couldn't kick my ass," Law muttered at Luffy.

"He might be able to kick my ass, so watch it," Zoro called over.

The tattooed man narrowed his eyes at Luffy. "You think you're tough, but once an incubus gets a hold of you, you're as good as dead. I'm not fully resistant to their powers, not even with all of my practice," he said sharply.

"Nope. I'm immune to that stuff because I'm Enema," Luffy cocked a thumb at himself, grinning.

"What?" Law squinted in confusion.

"The word is Anathema, and it means anyone we can't feed off for whatever reason," Zoro corrected.

"I know what an Anathema is. Why can't you be fed off of?" Law demanded, honestly curious.

"I'm, um…" Luffy floundered. "I've never been attracted to anybody like that," he continued a bit hesitantly, looking down.

The corners of Zoro's mouth tightened. He had never seen his friend act shy about his orientation. Or anything else, for that matter.

"Unbelievable. Being asexual is enough to fully resist an incubus?" Law asked eagerly.

"Not necessarily. Everyone's different, but with the way Luffy is, I haven't been able to get into his aura even with both of us trying. I can give him power to heal, but then again, I can do that for anyone," Zoro explained.

Law's mouth curled into a sly grin. "I'm starting to feel better about our mission," he said.

Luffy looked up at him with warm brown eyes. "Me too," he agreed, looking relieved.

* * *

They arrived at Law's secret base, a ritzy beach house with a glass and metal balcony overlooking the ocean.

"Woo hoo, we're here! I'm starving!" Luffy yelled, precariously balancing himself on the nose of the trawler.

He stretched out an arm and latched onto the brushed steel railing of the balcony as the boat was steered to a wooden pier, rocketing inside the open glass door.

Law's eye twitched as crashes and shouts echoed from the house, and he quickly tied up the boat and stormed inside.

Zoro followed the tattooed man upstairs to the sight of an absolutely huge, muscular behemoth of a man trying unsuccessfully to pull Luffy out of the refrigerator with the help of a few of Law's followers.

Luffy was gobbling up food, bloating his belly so much it was starting to lift up his shirt.

In the commotion, a slightly pudgy young man with dyed white hair bumped into Zoro.

"Ahh! You're that incubus!" he cried, panicking as he threw his hands up into a fighting stance.

Zoro scowled sourly at the fluffy-haired man. His gaze then landed on the sight of the cold kitchen stove over his shoulder, and the fleeting image of Sanji tore through his mind.

"I'm really not in the mood for this right now," Zoro said frigidly.

He caught a glimpse of a set of white high-end headphones with little rounded bear ears on them hanging around the guy's neck. The white-haired man clumsily shook his arm where the cord had gotten tangled around it.

Zoro pouted out his lip and squinted judgmentally around the room.

There was Bear Guy, Pro Wrestler Guy, and two other men who looked like they belonged in their mother's basements rather than among a crack team led by a humorless intelligence dealer. Then again, Luffy didn't look like much at first glance either.

The guy's face drooped down in a crestfallen expression as Zoro simply walked off with open disinterest.

Law was getting in on the refrigerator action now. Zoro crossed his arms and leaned back on the counter as he watched the show with a grin, ducking to avoid a jar of mayonnaise that flew at his head.

Law ended up having to transport Luffy out of the fridge using his Devil Fruit power, but not before he had eaten half of the food in it. He shooed everyone to the living room, where they sat on sculptural black and white sofas and stared blankly at each other.

"This is Prince Roronoa and Luffy-ya," he said, then gestured to his crew. "Jean Bart, Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo," Law introduced them sparingly.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be the next King. Nice to meet you!" he said, giving a friendly cackle.

Zoro leaned back, relishing their shocked reactions.

"I thought Roronoa was the Prince," Bepo leaned over and whispered to Law.

"I am, but I don't want to rule. Luffy is my successor," Zoro replied as if he had been talking directly to him.

"I wanted to talk to you about that. If you can't get into Luffy-ya's aura as you say, how do you plan on transferring the Haki?" Law asked, driving a dagger right into what Zoro had feared.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure that Luffy is the problem," the incubus said, unsettled.

"What are you going to do if you can't give it to him?" Law dug deeper. His associates looked between them with worry.

"I don't know, ok? We've tried everything I can think of. I don't know what to do now," Zoro sighed, looking over at Luffy and remembering all of the failed times he tried to coax the core of the Haki to appear.

"It will work out one way or another," Luffy reassured his friend, shrugging.

"No, it won't. We need a plan. It's all sunshine and rainbows with you! Things don't always work out the way we want them to," Law snapped, his voice filling the room.

"If you don't believe that you'll achieve something then you won't!" Luffy responded just as loudly.

"You're talking like a child," Law said dismissively.

"Better than acting like an adult who's so bitter they can't see any of the good around them," the dark-haired boy replied.

Shachi cleared his throat. "Um, boss? We should probably talk about the plan to get you-know-what," he suggested.

Law sat on the edge of the sofa, and the pressure of the room seemed the change as his grey eyes shone like a knife, sharp and serious.

"Tomorrow, we are going to sneak into the palace treasury," he said.

Zoro's shoulders bounced as he gave a hard exhale. This would be the first time that he would be back after he ran away ten years ago, covered in blood. Treasure wasn't the only thing sealed behind the palace's doors. There were memories, raw and raging, threatening to drown him like a tidal wave.

"Do we get suction cups to walk up the walls? Night vision goggles? One of those things that cuts circles in glass?!" Luffy questioned eagerly, yearning to have his secret agent dreams fulfilled.

"No. We won't need that crap when we create a little distraction by blowing the south wing up," the tattooed man said matter-of-factly.

"No," Zoro said outright. "The south wing is close to the servants' quarters. I'm not blowing up people who can't leave."

"I thought you would say that. You were really raised as a human, weren't you?" Law grumbled, crossing his arms as if the incubus's humanitarian attitudes were suddenly an inconvenience to him.

"I said that too," Bepo muttered, analyzing Zoro from across the coffee table.

"You're a human, idiot," Jean Bart groaned and rolled his eyes at the young man. "He was supposed to have been raised to not give a damn about us."

Zoro took in a breath to protest, but realized that Jean Bart's statement was pretty accurate. Before the assassinations, he had been taught to think that humans were just food, that they were less intelligent, that they bred like rabbits because they were prey animals. He stilled his tongue.

"We are technically just bombing part of it. We'll set charges in some of the less populated parts, then execute our plan during the commotion," Law explained with a frown.

"No. My advisor wouldn't like this plan. It wouldn't be good if innocent people ended up dying. I don't want humans to hate me before I even step foot in the throne room," the incubus argued, rubbing his palm against his forehead.

"I just know I'm giving a lot of people hope right now," Zoro softly echoed Sanji's words, his gaze falling to the floor as he imagined the smooth sound of the cook's voice. He wouldn't have stood for the incubus harming a single innocent person, especially if ladies were likely to be present.

"You know what we should do?" Luffy sat straight up, his eyes wide. "Free the slaves at the palace!" he exclaimed.

"What would that accomplish?" Law replied grumpily.

"No, I like that. It would cause a lot of confusion and get people out of the building. But what are we going to do with all those exploding collars?" Zoro asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

"I probably would be able to send out a signal that would open them, but it would take some time to prepare it…" Shachi answered, a little less than confident.

"Even if Shachi could do it, the logistics of getting every freed slave out of there is a nightmare," Law said with an exasperated groan.

"And you think blowing up innocent people isn't a nightmare?" Zoro countered, his dark eyes unyielding as he steadily watched the other man.

Law gave them both a stony scowl. "If you want to free the slaves and get yourselves killed, fine, but do it after you open the doors I need. Don't forget I have my own goals once we are in the palace, and I'm not letting my team die for you," he said curtly, turning to his men.

"Shachi, work on that signal. Jean Bart, get the boat and supplies ready. Penguin, look over the schematics of the palace and identify entry and exit points. Bepo, come with me to walk through the rest of the plan," Law ordered his team, then strode out of the room, Bepo on his heels. The rest of his men split up and went about their tasks, leaving Zoro and Luffy alone on the sofa.

"You know who really likes to help get slaves out of exploding buildings?" Luffy asked, grabbing his knees and peering up at Zoro with a sly grin.

"No. Hell no, Luffy. We just escaped from there!" the incubus hissed, trying to keep his voice down.

"I'm not talking about working with the Revolutionary Army. I'm talking about working with my brother Sabo. You know, my brother who stood up for you at the meeting?" he said, hopping off the couch and digging his phone out of his shorts. "Well?"

Zoro thought about what Sanji would say at a time like this. If their plan to free the slaves with Law's minimal involvement was to succeed, they could use the help. And if they were only working with Sabo, not the Revolutionaries...

"Fine, call him. Make sure he knows this is not official," the incubus emphasized.

* * *

It was late by the time Luffy finished talking to his brother. Zoro tried a few doors before they found a room sterile enough to be a guest room. The incubus took a shower, and while Luffy took his, he checked his phone just to see if a certain cook had messaged him, but wasn't surprised to find nothing.

A bit later, Luffy crawled into bed. "I'm exhausted. Good night," he said, his mouth like a canyon as he gave a loud yawn.

"Good night," Zoro mumbled glumly.

Luffy squinted at his friend's forlorn expression.

"I bet Sanji really misses you too," Luffy said.

"Oi, I don't miss him!" Zoro replied forcefully.

The dark haired young man nodded knowingly. "Sure, whatever you say. You were thinking about him just now though, right?"

Zoro gave a huff as his grip tightened on the blankets. "I'm not doing this right now," he said.

"I think if you told Sanji how you really felt, he'd probably tell you he feels the same," his roommate continued, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"Shut up already!" the incubus growled, rolling over and angrily burying his face in his fluffy pillow as Luffy chuckled softly to himself.

After a few moments, Zoro let out a heavy sigh. "You know I wouldn't have anyone else as my successor, right? I mean, what I said earlier about your father and your brother..." he trailed off, trying to figure out what his pride would allow him to say.

"Apology accepted," Luffy said with a sleepy grin.

* * *

Shachi had hardly gotten any sleep, but the signal to disrupt the slaves' collars was finished.

Luffy slapped him on the back, laughing. "That's so awesome! How does it work?"

"Well, luckily I had a collar to test it on, so I took the explosives out of it so I could match the right frequency and-"

"Quit goofing off and get ready. We leave in two minutes," Law growled as he brusquely walked between them. His stony gaze fell on the dark-haired young man.

"The Revolutionary Army was never supposed to be a part of this operation. If you weren't part of the deal I made with Roronoa-ya, I would leave you behind," the tattooed man said contemptuously.

"I told you, it's not the Revolutionary Army, it's just my brother Sabo," Luffy explained, his hands balling up into fists.

"Just tell him to stay out of my way," he warned as he swept past, a blur of yellow and black.

Luffy frowned, looking after him like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

Shachi leaned in after his boss had left the room. "He's all stressed out because he's probably going to fight you-know-who today," the young man whispered.

"Oh right. Mingo. Zoro told me about him," Luffy whispered back.

"I don't think he expects to make it back. He gave Bepo a big envelope that he's only supposed to open if...you know," Shachi sighed softly.

"I'm not going to let him die," Luffy said fiercely.

"Whatever you can do would be great, but I'm pretty sure Law won't accept any help with this one. We'd better get going before he gets into an even worse mood. Believe it or not, I've seen him in worse moods," the other man chuckled lightly, but the mirth didn't reach his eyes. He cradled the signal disrupting device, which looked a little like a toaster with the housing taken off of it and an antenna, and strode out the door.

Zoro walked up behind his friend. "Is Sabo coming?" he asked.

"Yeah, and he's bringing Koala. They're going to meet us at a marina Law knows," Luffy explained, kicking his legs absentmindedly at the barstool he was perched upon.

Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Here we go, then. And here I thought opening a couple of damn doors would be nice and simple," he groaned.


	15. Chapter 15

They loaded up the Polar Tang with supplies and set out towards the rendezvous point to pick up the Revolutionaries, bouncing over choppy grey water under a ceiling of heavy clouds. Zoro sat cross-legged alone on deck, grimly watching the turbulent, sharp-edged waves that seemed to match his shitty mood.

He had initially come out to meditate, but it was impossible to focus with the uncomfortable feelings from what had happened with Sanji still boiling inside of him, feelings that if properly named might change things in his life forever. Better that they were forgotten altogether right now, right when their paths were splitting.

Zoro steeled himself, trying instead to concentrate on the task at hand. He wondered what legacy had been left behind the impenetrable door that only his Haki could open, and what was inside that Law was risking all of their lives to obtain.

The swift trawler made quick time across the bay to a small marina, where they picked up Sabo and Koala. 

Law crowded all of his passengers into the ship’s galley to brief everyone before sailing to the palace.

“Here is the plan. Penguin and I have identified a network of tunnels that are part of underground ruins that begin on the far side of the island and run underneath the palace. If we can access those from the less inhabited part of the island and then travel the ruins to palace, we can avoid being detected. The problem is that some of those tunnels are likely to be flooded, and we have three Devil Fruit users among us. We have no choice but to risk it.”

“From there, the tunnels should lead us to the wine cellar, where we will split up. My team knows where to go, and I will take Roronoa-ya and Luffy to the Treasury. You two are on your own after that point,” he said with a nod to Sabo and Koala, who nodded back.

“After we leave the treasury and you open the second door for me, my team will aid your and Luffy-ya’s escape,” the tattooed man spoke, his tired grey eyes falling on Zoro.

“What will you be doing?” Luffy asked.

“It’s not your concern,” Law replied coldly.

“It’s Mingo, isn't it? You're going to fight him alone, aren't you? Well, I’m not escaping until you do,” the young man said stubbornly.

Zoro sighed. “And I’m not leaving without him,” he added, jerking a thumb in Luffy’s direction.

“This isn't your fight!” the tattooed man snapped, denting the rolled up map he held in his tightening grip.

“He’s an incubus with an Awakened Devil Fruit power. If you make one mistake, if he entrances you even once, you're dead. Both of us are immune to it, and even then it will be a hard fight. We’ll need to end it quickly before Lucci realizes what the hell we’re doing,” Zoro reasoned, leaning back in his chair.

“No,” Law said stubbornly.

“Why not?!” Luffy demanded, sliding out of his seat and stomping towards him.

“Because of reasons that are none of your business,” he growled.

“You’re my friend. The reasons are my business!”

“You aren't my friend, alright?! You’re a burden that I took on in exchange for his cooperation!” Law snarled, flinging a finger in Zoro's direction.

“Alright, everyone,” Bepo said as he stepped in between them, lightly grabbing Luffy’s shoulder and leading him away. 

“It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission in this case,” the white-haired man whispered to Luffy.

“Wha?” Luffy said loudly, giving a lopsided frown.

“Shh! It means just do it anyway, but quietly,” Bepo said in a low voice.

Luffy nodded, twin sparks of mischievous excitement flashing in his eyes.

Law steered the crowded boat away from the prying eyes of the city into deeper waters, then killed the throttle. He barked a few orders to his crew, who fanned out across the boat, closing and sealing portholes and rolling down waterproof shields over the larger windows. As soon as Bepo gave him the thumbs up, the tattooed man’s hands danced across the ship’s controls like a concert pianist. A deep, vibrating groan bellowed all around the stunned guests as a set of fins extended along the sides and back of the hull.

Law got up and gave the navigator’s chair to Bepo. He opened a small cabinet that housed a periscope, which he peered through.

“Dive!” he called out, and a rush of water gurgled around the portholes as the boat submerged under the surface of the water.

“Your boat turns into a submarine?! So cool!” Luffy gushed, running from window to window with stars in his eyes.

“Yes, Luffy-ya. This is the only way this many of us are going to get close the the palace without alerting their security,” Law said.

“This must have cost a fortune,” Zoro commented as he examined the periscope setup.

“I don't sell my energy for nothing,” the other man replied.

The incubus raised an eyebrow. His kind would pay well for a handsome, seasoned professional who didn't say much, and the tattoos only added to the exotic mystique. However, Zoro could only wonder just how much Law was donating to afford a damn submarine. No wonder he always looked tired. At this point he was probably shortening his own lifespan.

The ship-turned-sub cut quickly through the water and slowed to a stop as it reached the mass of land off of the island where Penguin had discovered the underground ruins.

“Seventy years ago, the archaeology team who surveyed the ruins wrote that these chambers were still intact, but some of the lower levels were completely flooded. It was hard to tell which areas in their notes,” Penguin explained as he went through the schematic chart with Law, who was preparing to transport them into the subterranean maze with his Devil Fruit power.

Meanwhile, Jean Bart handed each of them a waterproof flashlight and a walkie talkie. 

“Everyone, I’m taking an educated guess on where we are landing. It could be flooded or caved in, and unless they’ve somehow installed lights in their underground ruins, it will be pitch black. There is no guarantee on what we will find in there. If anyone wants to stay behind, they can wait with Bepo on the ship,” Law warned, taking a grim look at the determined faces before him.

“We’re still going,” Luffy said, garnering nods from the others.

A thin bubble expanded from Law’s hand, and within a few heartbeats they were plunged into darkness and fed into a shockingly cold maw of black water. Zoro was lucky that his perception of energy awarded him some sense of the shape of the chamber, but it was the humans’ auras that flickered brightly. He saw the three bodies of the Devil Fruit users slowly sinking into the murk and he quickly dove after them, managing to collect them before they swallowed too much water. 

Their flashlight beams bounced off of an old stone arch as they dragged everyone up onto a collapsed wall that was propped up by an island of rubble. 

“The tunnel to the cellar should be to the northeast,” the tattooed man said as he looked up at the crumbling architecture, wiping his dripping face with his wet sleeve.

They found a small opening and crawled through, navigating the stone caverns of the ruined ancient city. They eventually found a crack that led to a forgotten corner of the palace’s huge stone cellar.

Zoro remembered playing in these cellars as a child with Kuina, daring eachother to face the monsters in the darkness. He wished he knew sooner that the real monsters walked the palace halls by daylight, secretly coveting the crown.

He was going to defeat Lucci all right, but he had sworn to also find the man who could become a beast, whose claws ripped his family away from him.

They split up, Sabo and Koala to free the slaves and Shachi, Penguin, and Jean Bart to plant to explosives. Law sped Zoro and Luffy through the shimmering marble halls, darting around guard patrols as the incubus tried to hide his aura as best he could. If he got too close, the other incubi would be able to sense him in an instant.

They arrived at a massive, slate-colored stone door without doorknobs or handles. A puzzle lock with a series of concentric brass rings was embedded in its surface, featuring fierce dragons cast into the metal which radiated out from a small, protruding jade bowl in its center.

Law slowly stepped up to it, his eyes wide in awe. “This is it,” he whispered.

“This is so awesome!” Luffy said, very impressed. He reached out to touch the polished stone.

Law yanked him back by his shirt collar. “Watch out, Luffy-ya. It’s Sea Prism Stone. The whole room’s shielded with it. That's why I couldn't get in with my power,” he warned.

“Hmph. They weren't kidding around,” Zoro muttered, spreading his hand out on the cold stone.

“Roronoa-ya. Put a drop of your blood into the vessel,” Law eagerly instructed.

Zoro took in a slow breath, wondering if this would actually work or not. He formed a sharp spike of his energy and sliced the pad of his index finger with it. He then squeezed a few drops into the bowl. He raised an eyebrow in surprise as his crimson blood glowed silver like luminous mercury as soon as it hit the pale green stone. The door began to creak.

The rings of dragons whirled around each other at a frenzied pace, cranking a small section of the massive door open. 

The incubus stepped inside with Luffy at his side, his vision adjusting to the darkness as his lungs filled with the stale air. Law had Zoro close the door behind them with a deep boom.

Zoro found a brass switch on the wall and flipped it, and suddenly everything was illuminated.

A crystal chandelier softly radiated golden light on the circular room, which looked more like a messy store room than a treasury befitting a King. Treasures of gold peeked out from banded wooden trunks which were stacked on top of one another. In the center of the room lay a massive pile of coins standing taller than two men and peppered with loose gemstones and gold and silver bars. Full suits of superbly crafted armor hung haphazardly on wooden stands, and a set of priceless jewel-encrusted crowns rested in an open velvet-lined display case.

Law walked past them all, ignoring the valuable trinkets as he hunted for one item alone.

“Maybe now you can tell me what you’re looking for,” Zoro told him, opening a small box and sighing. Like he’d ever be able to resell a diamond of that size for rent money without attracting serious attention. Still, he pocketed it for Nami, figuring this ridiculous gem alone would take care of his debts.

He turned and saw Luffy wearing about twenty strands of gold and pearl necklaces around his neck and one of the crowns on his head with a huge beaming smile on his face. The young man pointed to a black leather fringed cuff adorned with a pendant of polished glass on his upper arm.

“Pretty cool, right?” he said proudly.

Zoro grunted a halfhearted reply. It was just like his friend to find the things that seemed the least valuable and treat them like they were gold. He did this with people too, he noted.

“I'm looking for a sword,” Law grunted, struggling as he pawed through a pile of heavy tapestries to get to a long box underneath them.

Luffy sidled up beside him. “Did you forget you have a Devil Fruit power?”

The tattooed man stopped abruptly, scowling at Luffy as the box suddenly appeared on the floor in front of them. 

“Why do you want a sword?” Luffy asked, checking behind an exquisite amber framed mirror.

“It’s the only hope I have,” Law replied stiffly.

“No it’s not. Zoro and I are going to help you,” Luffy told him, his mouth set in a firm line of determination.

“Lucci will more than likely arrive before the fight is through. If you are after the throne, you need to leave and gather more strength like we’ve planned. I’ve waited my whole life for this. You have no business getting wrapped up in it,” Law sighed wearily.

“What did Mingo do to you?” Luffy asked.

Law’s storm grey eyes, full of anger and pain, slowly came to rest on Luffy’s. “He took someone I held very dear away from me,” he told him, his gaze lingering on the other man.

“Let's kick his ass,” Luffy said fiercely.

While they spoke, Zoro searched the drawers of an ornamented silver writing desk. Something small slid forward in one of them as he pulled it open. He examined the small brass rectangle in his palm, cool to the touch and covered in deep lines of the Art Deco style. It was the most handsome lighter he had ever seen, and when he tried it out the flame rolled off of the wheel as smoothly as a dream. He quickly pocketed it, an aching pang pulling tight in his chest as thoughts of Sanji unrelentingly intruded upon his mind again. 

As Zoro approached a stack of oil paintings, he felt a tingling sensation of a strange aura from underneath of them. 

“Help me,” he called to Luffy, who ran over and helped him lift the artwork to expose a black box made of ebony wood.

“What’s that?” Luffy asked.

“I don't know, but something feels alive in there,” Zoro commented.

By now, Law was peering over their shoulders. “Open it,” he urged.

Zoro unclasped the golden latch and lifted up the extraordinarily heavy lid. There lay a group of swords, each sheathed in their own velvet wrap. The incubus pulled back the cloth on the longest one and immediately dropped it, cursing and pulling his hand back like he had been burned by a hot poker.

Law dove down and snatched it, pulling it out of its wrappings. It was a handsome, tall sword with a fluffy sheepskin trim around its hilt.

“What the hell was that?!” Zoro angrily demanded.

“This is Kikoku, Roronoa-ya. And it is the difference between winning a fight against an incubus and losing. Draw your blades,” he ordered.

“What?” Zoro froze, wondering if this was the inevitable double-crossing.

“I want to test to see if this works. Simply block my attack,” Law said impatiently.

“Fine,” the incubus growled. In a wave of soft light, three swords appeared in his hands and mouth.

Law swung his new sword and Zoro raised his to block. To his surprise, the long sword passed through them as if they were nothing but air. He released the grip on his energy as his hands burned from the cursed, sharp magic.

“This is an anti incubus blade?!” Zoro choked in disbelief, wondering what the hell it was doing in the treasury.

“This is the important part. Try to entrance me,” Law said eagerly, sporting a cunning grin.

Zoro gave an annoyed huff. “Sure, why not,” he sighed, his pupils dilating as he stared the other man down. 

Law squinted his eyes as if a strong wind was blowing in his face, but he continued to hold the sword steadily in front of him.

“I want you to tell me the details of why you want Doflamingo dead right now,” Zoro demanded as a test, one that could pay off if it worked.

“No,” Law replied defiantly.

Zoro closed his eyes, relaxing. “I don't like that sword,” he grumbled.

“First time you’ve felt powerless against a human, Roronoa-ya?” Law quipped.

Zoro’s thoughts flew to Sanji, whose nimble, powerful kicks brought him to the ground, his very essence curling around his heart and pumping through his blood, rendering him a pining ruin.

“No. Not the first time,” he answered with a small cough, choosing to rifle through a few more piles to distract himself.

“That sword will be great for when we fight Mingo,” Luffy said optimistically. “You’d be pretty much immune, like us.”

Law nodded. “That’s the point. I’ve wanted this sword as soon as I found out it existed years ago,” he told him.

“What are you going to do after you beat him?” Luffy asked.

“I haven't thought that far in advance,” the other man replied carefully.

“You should be my master spy,” the young man declared.

“Luffy-ya, if you actually do become King you can't make positions up like a kid playing house,” Law muttered.

“I can do what I want. I already have a head cook and a head...um…” Luffy squinted his eyes at Zoro from across the room, assessing his friend’s most valuable skills.

“Dish washer. Head dish washer,” he said, settling on a title.

“That would certainly send a message to the incubi you just ousted. Make their former Prince wash your dishes,” Law grumbled.

“See? This is why I need you. Be my advisor, like Sanji is to Zoro,” Luffy said.

“I don't think you want me advising you like Sanji-ya does Roronoa,” the tattooed man replied drolly.

“Why not?” Luffy asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Because it would get annoying to have to constantly take your clothes off,” Law said.

“Shut the hell up, Law,” Zoro snapped irritability from across the room. “I’m fine with head dish washer,” he added. At least it would put him close to the kitchen.

There was something nagging Zoro, like a child gently tugging on his shirt. He rotated back towards the open ebony box again and felt it, the aura of something awake and waiting. The incubus kneeled and carefully tugged the velveteen covers down on three remaining swords, his eyes sweeping over the beautiful craftsmanship. They did indeed feel alive, and he felt like at any moment he might feel a pulse of a heartbeat underneath his fingertips. He tugged down on the wrappings.

The first sword was proud and formidable with a sawtooth pattern of crimson splashed down the length of the heavy blade. “Shusui…” he read the embroidery on the plush covering.

Zoro felt the bloodlust of the second before he even touched it, and he paused for a moment as if they were wild beasts sizing each other up. The incubus clasped the hilt and felt the sword begrudgingly submit to him, although he was sure this blade would never be completely conquered. “Sandai Kitetsu.” 

“Wado Ichimonji,” he read on the next one. This sword felt like the first star of twilight, pure and persevering. His fingers slid down the white hilt as he thought of his sister and her unusual starlight-colored wings, and the blade seemed to return his warm feelings of affection.

It felt like these swords were meant for him, waiting quietly in this heavy box for him to finally come for them.

Zoro decided right then that he wasn't leaving without them, and he scrambled to find a way to carry them. A banded green haramaki was neatly folded up in the foot of the box and he slipped it onto his waist, threading the swords though it as his swordsmanship instructor had taught he and his sister long ago.

Their radios suddenly crackled to life. 

_“Hi everyone! We’ve evacuated all of the slaves who wanted to leave, and the others are safely away from the explosives. Shachi, your signal worked like a charm,”_ Koala reported.

_“Thanks! All of the charges are in position and ready, boss,”_ Shachi’s voice rode in on a blizzard of static.

Law clicked on his walkie talkie. “Good. Wait for my signal,” he said, making for the door.

The trio slunk out of the treasury, each with their treasures, and followed Law’s breakneck pace to a part of the palace he was obviously very familiar with. He pulled aside a tapestry and pushed a false door of stone back to reveal a hidden passage. They sprinted down the length of the dusty stone hallway, the tattooed man’s flashlight beam bouncing ahead of them.

The passages ended at a spiral staircase which led up to a dark stone door with a small metal puzzle lock, a miniature version of the treasury’s.

“This secret door leads to Doflamingo’s and other court officials’ chambers. This passage was meant for only the King’s use to visit or even spy on his officials,” Law explained.

“This seems like overkill. How come you couldn't just go in the front door?” Zoro asked grumpily.

“Because powerful Doflamingo family executives are guarding it, and they will know exactly why I’m here the second they see me. It will take forever to beat them all, when I only care about one,” Law told him.

Zoro shrugged and opened the door for them courtesy of a few drops of his blood.

Law blocked the opening with his body and spun around on them. “You aren’t coming,” he said firmly, giving the other men a steely glare.

Zoro rolled his eyes, pushing past him with Luffy at his heels. “Just shut up about that already, alright?” he muttered.

Law exhaled a frustrated breath and pulled out his walkie talkie, drinking in a deep breath as he paused for a moment, his eyes closed.

“Detonate in ten minutes exactly,” he ordered his men, then sprinted through the door after Zoro and Luffy.  
  


* * *

  
Next Chapter - The return of Sanji!  


* * *

  
Here is another short to get your Sanji fix, nothing really to do with the story!

**The Continuing Adventures of Trafalgar Law: Matchmaker!**

Sanji’s knife clapped against the cutting board as it smoothly diced a stack of vegetables. His neck tingled and he spun around to see Zoro leaning on the edge of a wall, staring at him.

“What do you want?” the cook growled, turning his back to him to continue with his task.

“Nothing. Just getting some beer, shit cook,” Zoro grumbled as he pushed off of the wall and headed towards the refrigerator.

Sanji felt the air pressure change around him, and he swore that the cutting board he was working on suddenly slid a few inches to the right, jostling the tip of his knife just enough to cut across his finger.

“Fuck,” the cook hissed, grabbing a paper towel with one hand and pressing it to his badly sliced index finger.

Law casually strolled into the room. “Cut yourself?” he asked the cook, who was holding the injured hand to his chest. 

Zoro’s ears pricked at the conversation, and he stood up from where he had been crouched behind the fridge door inspecting the selection of alcohol.

“Yeah. It won't stop bleeding,” the cook said sourly. “Fuck, I don't usually do this.”

Law came and took a look at it with his doctor’s expertise. “You’ll need stitches. You’ve gotten yourself so badly that it’s going to take a while to heal, and you won't be able to use that hand for a bit. I’ll go get my medical bag,” the doctor said, turning to leave. He paused midstep.

“Unless…” Law muttered slyly, meeting Zoro’s gaze. “Unless your incubus friend would rather heal it. There would be no stitches or recovery time then,” he reasoned.

Sanji glowered at Zoro, then looked down at his hand that was currently soaking through the paper towel he was pressing to it. His eye fell to his cutting board and he squinted, then sighed.

“Marimo?” the cook hesitantly asked.

Zoro shut the door and weaved his way through the metal prep tables to Sanji.

“Let me see it,” he said dispassionately.

The incubus’s skin felt pleasantly hot to Sanji as he placed his injured hand uncertainly in his. The other man’s eyes glowed softly like an iridescent seashell as gentle warm light poured around the wound. To Zoro’s surprise, Sanji’s aura was filling with arousal. He stole a quick look around the room to see that Law was completely gone, then took a step closer.

“In some ways, healing someone is more intimate than sex for us,” the incubus said, voice deep and velvety.

“Yeah right,” Sanji scoffed, but his cheeks began to flush.

“If you gave someone a piece of what keeps you alive, you’d think it was intimate too. I don’t normally use my power to heal boo-boos, cook,” he replied, swiping a thumb across the back of the hand he was holding.

“Oi! I could have gotten Law to take care of it too, you know,” the cook growled.

Zoro shrugged, concentrating on the cut that was slowly disappearing.

Sanji studied it thoughtfully as the length of the deep cut shrank, his expression softening. “Are you really giving me a piece of you?” he asked.

The incubus nodded. “A piece I’ll have to replace later with human energy,” he told him. 

The cook gulped as his aura shifted over completely, ready to be consumed. Zoro raised an eyebrow, staring hungrily at it. He glanced back down to see the cut was finally healed.

“All done, cook,” the incubus announced.

“Not even a scar. Thanks for not being a dick and actually doing this for me,” Sanji said, trying to conceal he was a little impressed. Neither man made a move to leave.

“Your energy looks like it wants to thank me too, cook,” Zoro said in a husky whisper, leaning in even closer, their bodies pressing together. It wasn’t hard to tell that the cook was incredibly aroused.

Sanji let out a sharp exhale. “Fine, just a little to replace what this took. But if I end up practically riding you like last time…” he warned, gripping painfully onto Zoro’s arms.

“Just a little,” Zoro assured, then rushed forward and took Sanji’s lips as he greedily drew from his energy.

The cook moaned and melted into his touch, his mouth rubbing sensually against the incubus’s as he welcomed the knee that slid in between his legs with a gasp.

Zoro felt something shift, and he pried an eye open to see they were in Sanji’s bedroom standing over the bed. He stopped feeding, the cook still clinging to him.

“Why did you stop?” Sanji panted.

“I’ve technically taken what I need, but it looks like we’ve had some help,” the incubus growled.

“Law,” the cook said sharply as he surveyed their surroundings. He took a step back.

Zoro sighed. “I guess that’s that, then,” he said sullenly, turning to leave.

“Wait,” Sanji practically shouted as he grabbed onto Zoro's shirt. 

“Yeah?” the incubus asked, his brow furrowed.

“I mean, uh, well...you’re kind of leaving me in a bad way, marimo, and do you remember what happened in the showers? I mean, it wasn't so bad…” the cook stumbled over the words, his face bright red.

“Hell yes, I remember the showers,” Zoro grinned, laying Sanji smoothly back on the bed.

Outside in the hall, Law slunk away from the door and walked off. Although it was fun playing with people’s emotions, fun to see if he could see if he could get hostile people to practically fuck in a record six minutes, he mused as he glanced down at his watch, he couldn't help but wonder if he was being the good guy here.

For some reason, that didn't bother him today.


	16. Chapter 16

They jogged to a halt as they entered a lavish private library with a grand staircase spilling down from a second level.

Law stepped forward cautiously as he peered around the reading tables for his hated adversary. Zoro firmly grasped his shoulder, his senses having immediately registered the energy of another of his kind the instant he stepped foot into the room.

He got Law's attention and silently pointed to the second level.

A dark, menacing laugh echoed throughout the heights of the room. A tall blond man with crimson sunglasses descended the stairs with a rustle from a gaudy cape made of pink feathers. The dark haired man tensed, his aura blazing with red hot rage.

"I knew you'd be back, Law. Come to kill me?" Doflamingo asked with mocking amusement.

"That's right. I haven't forgotten Corazon," Law growled.

"That traitor? I'm more interested in who you brought with you than your grudge. What are you doing with these humans, former Prince Roronoa? Come to kill me too?" he asked, a dangerous grin curling on his face.

"You're going down, one way or another. I know you had a hand in the murder of my family," Zoro accused, sizing up the strength and intentions of his foe by studying the chaotic energy surrounding him.

He cackled. "No, but I know who did. Thanks for the gift, Law. I'm happy take the Haki for myself and become King."

Law unsheathed Kikoku, and both incubi took a step away, repelled by the wrongness of its power.

"What is that?!" Doflamingo demanded, his teeth gritting together.

The dome of Law's Room expanded as he charged the incubus with his long sword, slashing through the air as he ran. Doflamingo darted out of the way to avoid the strike, which cleanly split the second floor of the library in half, the pieces weightlessly suspended in the air like a literary meteor. Doflamingo's focus quickly switched to Zoro when he drew his new swords.

Thin, spindly strings shot up from the ground around Zoro to form a cage. The swordsman's blades clanged against them as if they were made of steel.

"Zoro!" Luffy called out, running over and gripping the bars to try to force them open. He drew back his hands with a grunt, and Zoro watched as blood pooled from twin gashes in his skin. These strings were razor sharp.

"Forget me, go help Law!" the green-haired man shouted, watching over Luffy's shoulder as Law squeezed onto Kikoku's hilt for dear life as he wilted under Doflamingo's attempt to mesmerize him.

Law broke out of it before Luffy could join him, his cursed sword slashing through Doflamingo's magic and cleaving his head from his body in one gliding motion. The headless incubus slumped over, then dropped gracelessly to the ground as the tattooed man stood over him trying to catch his breath. The slabs of library he was lifting with his power slowly floated to the ground, a waterfall of books trickling down the edges as it came to rest.

"Torao! Are you ok?" Luffy called over as he ran past the tables to get to him. Law nodded as he stared down at the body, his eyes like coals that had lost their fire.

"It's finally over," he whispered.

Zoro's brow furrowed as he studied the scene from his cage. Something wasn't right.

"Oi! These strings should be disappearing!" he shouted at them.

He had barely gotten the sentence out when a deep, menacing laugh echoed like a peal of thunder from above them.

"Yes, Roronoa. They would disappear - if you had killed me," Doflamingo's disembodied voice echoed with satisfaction.

"Coward! Just fight me already!" Zoro shouted, pinpointing the other incubus's location in the room.

"I'm done with that sword of yours, Law," the official said with barely-contained violence, his tone flush with the promise of blood.

Law recoiled as a thin white string suddenly ripped through the air, shearing off his arm at the bicep and launching it across the room with a whirling splash of blood. The limb still grasped Kikoku in its fist as it landed at the foot of Zoro's cage.

Law screamed, his whole body shaking as he gripped his bloody stump, his face twisted in pain and hatred. The puppet body he had just killed burst open in a nest of strings.

The real Doflamingo grinned as he descended down on what remained of the stairs, pulling out a sleek, black pistol. "You don't even deserve my Devil Fruit power. Law, this is how we deal with humans who have served their purpose," he sneered with a bloodthirsty grimace.

The gun flashed as he fired round after round into the tattooed man's body.

Luffy cried out, diving in front of him with his arms spread wide, catching bullets with his rubber body. Law dropped to the ground behind him.

The whole room rocked as the massive explosion tore through the palace.

Doflamingo gave a dark laugh. "This is your doing, isn't it?" he asked Law's collapsed, bloody form.

Zoro gritted his teeth from his prison. He could hear Law's heart faltering as he bled out. If he wanted to save him, he needed to give him life energy fast.

Luffy's normally warm eyes darkened with anger as he crouched, pumping blood through his legs as he boosted himself into his lightning fast second gear.

"Luffy! If we're going to save him, you've got to hurry!" Zoro shouted, resuming his fruitless attack on the bars with steel, energy, and his bare hands.

The young man nodded without turning his head, his focus on Doflamingo a deluge that would not be stemmed. "Got it, Zoro," he acknowledged.

"Amusing," Doflamingo laughed. "What do you think you can do that Law couldn't?"

He tilted his red sunglasses up and stared at Luffy, his pupils flush with an incubus's hypnotic lure.

Luffy raised an eyebrow and blinked with an irritated expression, unfazed by the attempt to entrance him. "I don't have time for this," he muttered.

With a swish of air, Luffy rushed Doflamingo, nearly invisible in his speed as his stretched arm snapped, punching the incubus across the room into a bookcase with an explosion of splinters and loose pages that scattered like a flock of frightened white birds.

Doflamingo laughed to himself as he emerged from the pile of books. "Traveling with an Anathema, Roronoa? His kind have no place in a world where incubi are chosen by the heavens to rule," he said with a tone that was a double edged sword of confident ease and deadly irritation.

"You're speaking in the presence of the next King. Show some respect," Zoro said defiantly, gesturing at Luffy.

White strings in the shape of pointed spikes grew from the ground around Luffy, bending menacingly at the boy.

"Then watch your so-called King die," he sneered.

The spikes dove for the rubbery man, who dodged them swiftly, leaving a trail of steam from his second gear. He landed in a crouch, sliding to a halt in front of Law. His face darkened as he stole a look at his horribly injured friend.

A spike emerged from behind him, brutally smacking him across the room. He crashed face-first into the top of a heavy wooden table, snapping it in two with a sickening crack. Luffy grunted and rolled away just in time to dodge another spike aimed at his chest.

"I don't have time for this!" he shouted, chomping down on his thumb and inflating his fist as he ran back towards Doflamingo.

The incubus's curling grin never faltered as he simply wiggled his fingers.

Luffy stopped mid-run.

"Oi! I can't move!" he yelled, struggling to control his arms and legs.

Doflamingo's hand danced as Luffy's body turned back towards Law and raised his giant fist. The shadow from Luffy's 3rd gear passed grimly over the bleeding man.

"Oh, you'll have plenty of time to help me deal with Roronoa-ya after you kill Law," Doflamingo said with a menacing chuckle.

Law's eyes batted open and from the ground he gave Doflamingo a weary, smug grin, lifting his middle finger and flipping the feathered man off. As Luffy's fist moved to crush him, the tattooed man quickly made a sweeping gesture. Kikoku appeared like a boomerang whirling through the air, his severed arm still attached, flying right above Luffy's head and slashing Doflamingo across the stomach.

The incubus choked on a pained yell as his hand flew down to the wound. Luffy's body relaxed, the strings controlling him now severed. He turned on Doflamingo, his face set in a molten expression of fury.

The incubus raised a clawed hand to ensnare Luffy once again, but it was too late. A fist the size of a car careened into him like a wrecking ball, crushing him though the glass of one of the tall windows and launching him like a cannonball over the open water.

Luffy wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth with the back of his arm, watching Doflamingo sail through the cloudless sky into the distance to an almost certain watery grave.

Law lay his head back down on the ground with a soft smile, his life's purpose finally completed. Luffy's blurry silhouette was a last sweet memory to leave the world with as he at last gave in to the darkness.

"Torao!" Luffy yelled, falling to the ground beside him. "Wake up! Please wake up!" he begged.

Zoro was suddenly beside his friend, the string cage evaporated.

"Grab him, he's still alive. We have to get the hell out of here," Zoro urged, shaking Luffy's shoulder to snap him out of it.

His roommate nodded and carefully draped Law over his shoulder, grabbing his sword and arm and running back into the puzzle locked hallway.

"Set him down right here. And get on the radio and let everyone know what's happening," Zoro ordered, his wings unfurling with a flourish. He began to pour healing energy into his ally as Luffy shakily explained their situation over the walkie talkie.

"Hang on, you asshole," Zoro muttered as he pushed power up the very edge of what was safe to give, doing his best to line up the severed limb with his stump. Long minutes passed, and the incubus's vision began to blur. At this point, they would both be relying on Luffy to get them out of there.

Luffy crouched next to them. "Is he going to be ok?"

"I'll let you know in a minute. Now stop distracting me," he said through gritted teeth, not even sparing Luffy a glance.

After a while, the glow from Zoro's hand suddenly winked out and he fell back on the floor.

"He's barely stable. He needs to get those damn bullets out of him. I think his arm is attached enough not to fall off at least," the spent incubus panted.

The dark-haired young man breathed a sigh of relief. "We should get out of here then," he said.

"Do you even know where to go?" Zoro snapped harshly, his new hunger gnawing him into irritability.

Luffy shook his head forlornly.

Static began to sizzle over the radio.

_"Luffy, where are you guys now? How is Law?"_ Penguin's voice soared across the airwaves.

"Um…we're in a secret passage near Mingo's library. Torao is really bad," the worried young man replied.

_"Ok, I have the schematics. Just follow my directions,"_ he responded.

They could hear sounds of screams and commotion caused by the explosion through the walls as Penguin guided them through a maze of secret passages and forgotten servants' hallways. Zoro swayed woozily as he ran, following his friend's footsteps to the best of his ability.

As they took a turn, the incubus noticed that this hallway was very different from the servants' access tunnels they had just been navigating. Gilded royal crests adorned the meticulous stonework, and suddenly Zoro remembered it. This was the tunnel he used to escape right after his whole family was murdered. He got on the radio.

"Oi, this is close to the royal chambers! Where are you taking us?" he barked, trying to conceal how unsettled he was.

_"Trust me, you'll scoot on by them. This is the only concealed way to where you need to go,"_ Penguin answered.

As soon as the other man's voice clicked off, Zoro felt an ominous shiver lance through his body. It was the power signature of a high level incubus, on par or even more powerful than Doflamingo right on the other side of the wall. There was only one man who he knew at the palace who was this strong. And if Zoro could feel his aura, he would certainly be able to feel his.

"Give me that sword!" Zoro hissed, reaching for Kikoku. He had remembered when Law was holding it earlier he couldn't feel his energy, so perhaps it would work the same if he held it.

The moment the incubus gripped it, it felt like he was squeezing red hot coals in his hands. He winced, but he unsheathed the sword and held it in front of him like Law had done during their tests of the weapon.

"Go," Zoro urged, the angry sword punishing him as they ran. After what he thought was a safe distance, the incubus dumped the sword into Luffy's arms and breathed a sigh of relief. His hands stung with bright red burns and blisters, but luckily there didn't appear to be any permanent damage.

"You ok, Zoro?" Luffy asked, clutching onto Law's still form that was slung over his shoulder.

He nodded, sweat glistening on his brow. "That sword hates incubi," he said in a low voice as his shook out his hands, making sure he couldn't sense the powerful aura any longer.

* * *

On the other side of the wall, Lucci stopped dead in his tracks, having sensed the flicker of a familiar signature of power for just a sliver of an instant.

"What is it?" Kaku asked beside him.

"Nothing. But send someone to clear the secret passageways in this area," Lucci replied with quiet intensity, sending his power out to search where he had sensed it. Feeling nothing, he had no choice but move on to deal with the aftermath from the explosion, his suspicions still unsettled.

* * *

As promised, the network of tunnels emptied into a small salon with a balcony overlooking the water.

_"Go out on the balcony. We're right below you,"_ their guide instructed.

The drop to the yellow ship was pretty far, but Luffy made quick work of it with a stretch of his arms as he catapulted the terrified incubus to the sub. Law's companions quickly grabbed the severely injured man and disappeared below deck.

They submerged the sub, two people lighter as Sabo and Koala had escaped with the slaves. Law was placed under emergency surgery by Shachi and Penguin, who had been trained by the surgeon, while Jean Bart took control of the ship.

The ravenous incubus had persuaded Bepo to donate and hauled him off to the bathroom before he lost control of his hunger and started blindly attacking people.

Luffy paced the galley in an endless circle. The ship was horribly quiet, save for a stray moan coming from the bathroom every now and then.

After making sure no one was tailing them, they surfaced at the beach house and the unconscious Law was carefully transported inside on a litter by his men. Luffy stayed by the tattooed man's bedside as Zoro collapsed into the bed in the guest room.

His eyes fell upon his new swords balanced in the corner, an accomplishment among a day of close calls and uncomfortable reminiscing.

A sickening, dreamless sleep seized him, the type of sleep where one gains no rest for their efforts.

* * *

It was 6:00 in the morning when Sanji texted him.

_"I want to see the Baratie. Can you meet me?"_ it said.

Zoro awoke to the chime alerting the new message and groggily checked the blinding screen to see who was up at this strange hour. He crinkled his nose at the unusual message.

"When?" Zoro tapped out.

_"You're actually up? Meet me at 8:00 am. You're going to get lost, so call a cab."_

He threw his legs over the side of the bed, searching for his pants with one hand as he worked his phone with the other.

"See you then," Zoro typed, smiling softly. He thought it was a strange time to meet, but he wasn't going to be getting much more sleep anyway.

He called for a cab, and and while he was waiting, he left a note for Luffy, who had managed to make it to the bed after keeping vigil for most of the night over Law. Zoro observed that although Luffy looked like hell, his friend had managed to fall into a deep sleep.

When he got there, Sanji had already arrived, his hands his pockets as he surveyed the smoking remains of his home.

It was right before dawn, and the gradient of shifting clouds bathed the cook in faded hues of pink and copper. Sanji stared in a daze at the blackened steel beams of the roof structure that jutted from the wreckage like the skeletal ribs of a giant whale.

The cook flinched as Zoro shut the door to the cab.

As Sanji turned around, the incubus instantly knew something was wrong with him. His uncovered eye was red and bloodshot, flanked by the telltale dark purple bags that came with lack of sleep or crying.

"Oi, you ok? You look like shit," he remarked as he walked towards him.

The cook nodded. "Yeah," he replied, his voice low and burred from a restless night. He didn't even rise to the bait of the insult.

Zoro took a few more steps forward. "It's weird to see it like this," he said, inclining his head towards the scorched building.

"Yeah," Sanji muttered, not meeting Zoro's eyes.

The incubus drew in closer, the charred asphalt crunching under his feet. The sun had just begun to crest over the roof of a building behind them, throwing shivering flecks of gold in the cook's evasive eye.

"You sure you're ok?" Zoro asked.

The incubus's breath caught in his throat as Sanji stepped in close, his fingers brushing against his arms. His eyebrows came together in concern as he watched the cook's face contort with anguish.

"I'm sorry," Sanji breathed, his soft voice a thin, unraveling thread.

Zoro heard a set of metallic clicks and felt a weight at his wrists. His wings burst through his hoodie as his glamour was suddenly ripped away. His eyes flew down to find a pair of high tech electronic manacles with gently blinking lights ringing his wrists, a thick chain between them.

His gaze rushed back up to the cook to find him void of life like an inanimate object. He could no longer see the beautifully flowing energies around the other man, and he reeled just as sharply as if he had just lost the ability to smell, taste, or hear.

Zoro's powers had been thoroughly sealed, including even the minute power that fed his glamour. Whoever made these things knew what the hell they were doing.

The earth felt like it was heaving below him as he desperately searched Sanji's face for an explanation.

"Cook?" he asked, his voice poisoned by sheer confusion and panic.

Black tactical vehicles pulled into the parking lot and screeched to a halt around them. Men in black military-style armor rushed out of them, as well as several men wearing some sort of sleek, futuristic suits. They each had swirly eyebrows, just like Sanji.

Something told Zoro this wasn't Lucci's gang.


	17. Chapter 17

The incubus could hear the thump of his heart in his head as his mind punched a hole through every flimsy idea he came up with to escape like they were nothing but paper screens. Shackled, his powers sealed, and with even the Haki unsettlingly out of reach, he was thoroughly screwed. The men in raid suits stalked towards him with predatory glee on their faces.

"Finally making yourself useful for once, Sanji," one of the men said snarkily, lip curled.

"Who are you?!" Zoro demanded.

An incredibly beautiful woman in pink approached, flanked by soldiers in body armor who surrounded him, weapons drawn.

"I'm surprised you don't recognize us, Roronoa. We are the Vinsmokes, the true heirs to the throne," she told him.

"You mean the old royal family?" Zoro asked, his forehead crinkling as he lifted an eyebrow.

"You mean _the_ royal family. We didn't stop being royalty just because your family stole the throne and allowed your kind to run amok. We want what is rightfully ours," she said with an elegant air. "Starting with the Conqueror's Haki."

Zoro's eyes found Sanji behind the wall of riot gear, numbly smoking while his sister talked.

"What the hell is going on here, cook?" Zoro angrily yelled over to him, his shackles clinking as he moved.

"Even someone as dense as you can see when you've been sold out," Sanji snapped as he swiftly stalked over to him, pushing some of the soldiers aside.

He stopped right in front of Zoro, and the incubus saw a spirit utterly broken beyond those red-rimmed eyes.

"You weren't the only hidden prince, marimo," the cook said bitterly, coming in uncomfortably close. He ran his hands along Zoro's hips and gently yanked him forward by the waistband of his pants, placing a devastating kiss on his cheek. The stunned incubus recoiled from the traitorous touch.

Sanji's siblings mercilessly mocked him, the cacophony of their laughter making the cook visibly cringe.

"Are you fucking kidding me? The Emerald Prince is your gay boyfriend?!" Yonji sneered.

"And here I thought that cute girls were more his style. I would have had father request someone different for him if I knew he liked something with a little more muscle," Reiju giggled.

Sanji withdrew as his cheeks flushed from his family's derisive banter, and his fingers fled as he calmly took a step back, enduring the escalating laugher of his brothers' tormenting.

"Marimo," he said, his tired, bloodshot eye pleading Zoro to listen as his siblings were busy cackling and carrying on. "My last advice to you is to take what little wit you have and use it for once. You already have what you need to help yourself," he said swiftly before rejoining his family.

Zoro didn't resist as the guards chained his legs and unceremoniously shoved him into the back of an SUV.

* * *

Luffy woke when Law burst into the room, his eyes scanning the bed.

"Where is Roronoa-ya?" the tattooed man demanded. His shirtless torso and one arm were wrapped in layers of bandages, and he leaned heavily on the doorframe.

"Huh?" Luffy blinked groggily at him. His eyes then widened.

"Torao! You're ok!" the dark-haired boy laughed with relief, quickly shoving aside the comforter to get out of bed. A crinkle of paper fell from the folds of the bedding. Luffy reached for the note with a quizzical expression, snatched it, then read from the torn piece of paper.

"It says he's gone to the Baratie to meet Sanji," Luffy said, shrugging.

Law let out a frustrated growl, limping into the room. "My contacts are saying something big is going down in that area. Why did he have to leave now?" he asked in a flash of bitter annoyance.

Luffy yawned again. "He had to go see Sanji because he missed him," he replied, walking over to the injured man.

"Missed him?!" Law exclaimed, his eyes flying open in anger.

"Yeah, you see, Zoro really likes him but won't admit-"

"I don't care," Law interrupted, attempting to pace the room, but just ending up hobbling. "We have already lost the advantage of surprise. He shouldn't be out in public!" he hissed.

"Zoro can handle himself," Luffy told him. He pulled his t-shirt off over his head and put a new one on from the clothes Law had provided them earlier.

"I never understood that kind of sentimental nonsense," Law said sharply.

"People want someone to trust and share their life with," Luffy replied, unabashedly doing the same with his shorts. "You got a toothbrush?"

"Trust is cheap," Law said quickly, as if he had repeated the phrase many times before.

"I trust you with my life. That's not cheap," Luffy said, cocking his head to the side.

"You shouldn't," the other man clipped.

"I believe in you," Luffy told him, his brown eyes meeting Law's gray ones.

Law looked away, scoffing. "There's no reason for you to believe in me," he muttered.

"Why not? You helped me and my brother out. You're still helping Zoro out, even though your deal with him is over. I see how much you care about Bepo and the others. Like it or not, you're a good guy, Torao!" the smaller man chuckled as he wound his phone charger up and stowed it in his pocket.

Law paused for a second. "Don't get too attached," he quietly warned. "It won't end well."

"Too late. You're my friend forever," Luffy said, patting Law's shoulder as he walked by him.

Law trapped his hand with his own, his eyebrow twitching as if he hadn't finished deciding what he wanted to do with it yet.

"You didn't have to do what you did at the palace. You succeeded where I failed, and that's something I won't be forgetting. But you and Roronoa-ya really should have left me," he said softly, withdrawing his tattooed fingers, his eyes meeting Luffy's with a flicker of emotion the other man had never seen in them before.

Luffy turned to face him. "I'm never going to leave a friend behind," he said with finality.

Law stared him down. "You can't save everyone, Luffy-ya. Even with Doflamingo defeated and disgraced, it won't bring back what he took away from me," Law said, his voice balanced on the edge of a whisper. Luffy thought he looked younger somehow, more vulnerable.

"You're right. Nothing can bring back people we love who have died. But I know Ace would still want me to move forward, and to keep kicking the asses of people who deserve it. I'm helping you only because I want to, and I don't care what you have to say about it," he said stubbornly, hands on his hips.

"I can't believe you and Roronoa-ya get along with you both being so selfish," the tattooed man griped.

"I am selfish. I do what I want, and I'll help people I like no matter what," Luffy replied, cracking a grin. His cell phone suddenly burst to life with a loud, cheerful melody from his pocket.

"It's Robin," he told Law before answering it.

Law's eyebrows pressed together, sensing something was very amiss as her light, muffled voice rapidly punctuated the the still air of the bedroom.

"Slow down. What happened?" Luffy asked her, scratching the back of his head.

As the frenzied back and forth of their conversation continued, Law observed with dread that Luffy grew more and more worried as they spoke. After he hung up, smaller man whipped his head around to him.

"She said that thirty minutes ago a taxi dropped Sanji's dad off at her place and he had been beaten so bad they had to go to the hospital. He said Zoro and Sanji are in trouble, and she said she tried to call them but they aren't answering their phones. And something about a Vinsmoke family?" Luffy said uneasily, bearing a deep frown.

"I knew it! I thought there was a connection between them and the arson, but I couldn't prove it," Law said loudly, the pitch of his voice going higher.

"I'm going to go get them," Luffy said with unbreakable resolve.

Law gave him a hard nod. "I'm coming. Let's go protect our interests, Luffy-ya."

"You mean our friends," Luffy corrected him with a grin.

* * *

Zoro was mildly surprised to be driven downtown rather than out in the countryside to some hidden estate. The building that they drove into was one of the taller skyscrapers in town, a smooth monolith with blue, pearly windows and a mysterious reputation.

The incubus barely registered his surroundings as his mind mulled over the details of the past few hours. He mentally berated himself for being foolish enough to have gotten in too deep with Sanji, and weak enough to continue giving a damn about someone who obviously didn't care if he was tortured and killed.

Maybe he was indeed foolish, for having let all of his chances to take it further with the cook slip away. Maybe if he had gotten closer, known Sanji's situation, he would have been able to help him rather than being tossed into his family's clutches. The fact that Zoro still didn't understand the reasons why made scalding anger surge through his veins.

The path from the parking garage led to one of the top floors and a high tech holding cell. It wasn't long until he had a visitor.

"Be good tomorrow. You wouldn't want to cause trouble for Sanji's wedding, now would you?" Reiju said tauntingly, leaning on the clear polycarbonate door of his cell with her hand on her hip.

"Wedding?!" Zoro growled, rushing up to the thick glass.

"Yes. It looks like you and Sanji have been close- but no longer. Your paths split here. For once in his life, Sanji is going to take the path of a true Prince, by marrying royalty and ensuring the strength of our kingdom. Unfortunately, you are the road that our kingdom will be built on," she sighed, pushing off of the door to stand up straight.

"I might be able to talk my father into some type of leniency if you give us the Haki willingly. We're going to get it anyway," she told him.

"There's only one man I am giving the Haki to, and your father is not him. Tell him he'll have to kill me," Zoro announced stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"We'll take it tomorrow, then," she said, ice creeping into her tone like frost swirling over a window pane. "It will be a little romantic to carry it for ten years exactly, don't you think?"

A leaden weight sank into the pit of Zoro's stomach as she left. He had forgotten that tomorrow was the anniversary of his family's deaths.

The incubus made himself lay down on the hard bench at the back of his cell and shut his eyes as he tried to make himself comfortable, wings and all. He hated sleeping with them out, as it was damn near impossible to get comfortable while lying down even in the best of circumstances. Yet he knew he would need every ounce of his strength tomorrow, as the threat of torture and Sanji's marriage loomed over him.

He would wish he had never fallen asleep.

* * *

The dream began like it always did.

They had been attacked by a beast of some sort, no, a man who looked like a beast with claws and fangs and an animal's blind viscousness. He had been slashed nearly in half and left for dead.

Zoro's whole body stung with pain, hot blood pouring out of him like a spigot, soaking wetly into the imported rug he was dragging himself across to reach his sister.

"Kuina…" he groaned, still crawling towards her even though it was clear to him from her blood spattered, motionless form and glassy eyes that she was already gone. His mother lay still beyond her.

"Roronoa?" a croaking voice came in the direction of his father's body.

"Father!" Zoro's eyes brimmed with tears as he made the painful journey to his father's broken form.

He choked in horror as he saw his father was missing an arm. And a leg.

His father slid bloody fingers across his son's tear-streaked face in a desperate gesture of affection.

"After I give you this, you must run. Run and hide," his father paused for breath, panting. "Leave the palace. Don't trust anyone," he choked, gasping for air.

"Hold out your hand," the King said, and as Zoro reached his arm out he saw a little jewel appear in his father's palm, silver like a shining diamond, with an unique aura of its own, as if it were alive.

"I name you, my son, Roronoa Zoro Shimotsuki, as my successor. This Haki makes you King, and never let anyone have it who you don't want to rule," his father told him through ragged gasps. He pressed the jewel into Zoro's hand, where it melted into him as the boy was bestowed the right to rule from his father.

"Get ready to run," the King growled, thrusting his arm underneath Zoro and spreading his hand, pressing it against his eviscerating slash. The young boy cried out in pain, but his father was relentless. His stomach began to grow hot, and he realized his father was pumping a massive stream of healing energy into him, in amounts that were dangerous to the one giving even for a healthy incubus.

He was giving Zoro the equivalent of his heart's blood, the last strength of his life.

"Father, no!" he cried out as he felt his wound stop bleeding.

"I love you, Roronoa," the King wheezed, then collapsed to the ground.

Zoro hated his own sensitive hearing as he listened to his father's heart grow weak and come to a stop.

He screamed into his hands, trying to muffle himself from their enemies as he went into a complete, sobbing meltdown. His stomach dropped in fear as he heard doors opening and closing down the hall, and he gave one last longing look of goodbye to his family's bodies, then heeded his father's words.

He ran.

* * *

In the haunting hours of the night, Zoro sat awake and stared blankly out of his cell door, trying to use what little wit he had, as Sanji had irritatingly called it, to try to figure out what he should do now. He was determined that no matter how many days of torture he would face, he would follow his father's last words. He would not bestow the Haki on anyone he didn't want to rule.

He wouldn't give it to anyone but Luffy.

His eye caught something on the floor of another cell across from his, and he sat up a little straighter to get a clearer look. The dark stains on the ground appeared to be fairly fresh blood, with a white tooth raising up like an island from the puddle. He wondered what unlucky soul had been there before.

At the break of dawn, Reiju came to explain that after the wedding was over that afternoon they would be coming for him, and that he should think hard about her offer of leniency.

He blew her off again, but as she turned to leave he got her attention.

"Oi. Who was in that cell?" he asked, pointing across the way.

"Oh, some old man who was pretending to be Sanji's father," she replied with a shrug.

Zoro lost it, slamming his body up against the polycarbonate like a battering ram.

"What did you do to him?!" he screamed.

"I didn't do anything to him," Reiju said numbly. "If you care about my brother at all, please think about my offer," she quietly urged, giving Zeff's cell a long look before leaving.

He stood there, staring at the copious amounts of blood and seething with rage. There was the fucking why. It was probably the only reason the Sanji he knew would do this to him. The incubus hoped that Zeff was far away from this place.

He had to get out of his cell, and now. His mind flew back to Sanji's words and his uncharacteristic behavior back at the Baratie with a new perspective.

"I already have what I need…" Zoro muttered, feeling the ghost of the cook's hand running along the top of his jeans and his lips giving him a nervous, passionless kiss, all in front of his asshole siblings. What if that odd display was really a message?

His hand flew to his waist, turning over his waistband to find a small, computerized key wedged into the top of his boxers.

"That fucking bastard," Zoro laughed bitterly as he examined the buttons on the pendant-shaped device and pressed the unlock symbol. His manacles opened with a satisfying click, and the colors of his own aura swept over his vision with a bright flourish. The incubus breathed out a sigh of relief.

His gaze snapped to the door with hate as three glowing swords appeared in his hands and mouth.

* * *

Sanji stood in front of an altar adorned with a mountain of fragrant flowers in the spacious ballroom at the top floor of the Vinsmoke family's skyscraper. Although the cutest girl he had ever laid eyes on was standing right in front of him, he couldn't be more unhappy.

It made no sense to him. His heart slammed madly in his chest as he watched her adorable mannerisms and fantasized about her smooth skin and perfectly petite body. True to the Whole Cake Kingdom's name, the princess was an accomplished baker and and they had even exchanged a few recipes during their brief conversation together before being rushed to change into their wedding clothes.

Sanji liked her. He should be happy, but the memory of Zoro's warm, demanding kisses haunted him like a vengeful spirit. He finally had to admit it to himself.

His time with Zoro had meant something to him.

However, not loving his new bride-to-be wasn't going to stop the cook from going through with the sacrifice he was making for the person who had given so much to him, who had raised him as his own.

Marrying a stranger and placing himself back under his family's control had been part of the deal, trading his freedom to save his shitty old man. It had been well worth it, as Zeff had been abused so badly by his brothers that he was hardly recognizable when Sanji finally retrieved him from his cell.

That wasn't the only part of the deal. He winced as he thought with sinking shame of the expression of utter hurt on Zoro's face when his family descended upon them. The incubus was not very bright, but Sanji was fairly confident that he would be able to escape with the key he had hidden on him, particularly with the wedding as a distraction.

"It will be ok, Sanji. Not too much longer now," Princess Pudding whispered, giving him a reassuring smile.

He nodded, his mouth stretching into a gentle grin his that heart wasn't feeling. The cook smoothed out his tux coat, feeling his cigarette box through his pocket with a pang. As nervous as he was, Sanji felt like he could smoke the whole pack before the ceremony was over with, and he was tempted to see if his family would let him get away with it.

His father was presiding, and the large crowd fell silent as Judge Vinsmoke stepped up to the altar. Their wedding was apparently a big deal, uniting his family who wished to regain the throne with the neighboring kingdom who wished to acquire a powerful, wealthy ally. He recognized many important officials in the audience, and wondered how many of these idiots were benefiting from his misery.

Judge got straight to the point, not bothering with flowery language or symbolic rituals like music or the lighting of candles. This would be short and sweet, nothing but business. His booming voice filled every corner of the huge room.

"Today both of our nations are strengthened by this union and our families join in an unstoppable alliance. When we regain the throne, there will be no kingdom that we won't be able to conquer with our combined might. We have captured Prince Roronoa, and in a few short hours, the Haki will be mine!" he shouted triumphantly, and cheers erupted from the onlookers.

The whole affair seemed more like a stage set for a dictator waving his propaganda than for a wedding. He felt sorry for Pudding, as he was sure this wasn't how she had always imagined her wedding day. He was already planning to try to make up for it by coming up with some special recipes especially for her.

At least she'd be able to get something out of the food, Sanji thought, his mind pulling back in Zoro's direction. He remembered how the starving incubus ate a whole plate of his rice without it even taking the edge off of his hunger, which was horrifying for a chef. The cook reminded himself that he could have always sated him in other ways, causing a flush to creep up the back of his neck. He quickly switched his attention back to his father's asinine speech to calm himself down.

Unfortunately, the moment that Sanji decided to pay attention again was the deciding moment which he had been dreading.

"It is time to seal this contract between allies. Now, Princess Pudding, do you take Sanji to be your husband?" Judge asked.

"I do," she said, looking shyly at Sanji through her long lashes.

"And Sanji, do you take Princess Pudding to be your wife?" his father practically growled at him, a lethal warning in his eyes.

So this was his fate, he thought, numbing himself to the emotions crying out against what he was about to do. Sanji took a deep, resigned breath.

"I…"

Over the heads of the audience, he could see glowing blades slice precise lines through the back wall with a loud metallic scraping sound. Every head in the room turned towards it.

The section of wall fell forward with a deep crash, and bright sunlight from the windows in the hallway streamed in, silhouetting the man emerging from the falling dust of the cleanly cut, triangular hole.

Zoro took an undaunted step into the ballroom as he dispassionately sized up the crowd of people, many of them very powerful. His gaze landed on Sanji.

"You're not getting married today, cook," he announced, raising his swords.


	18. Chapter 18

A collective shocked gasp hissed from the crowd. Some of the guests rose from their seats in outrage.

"Idiot! You were supposed to escape!" Sanji shouted, his eyebrow twitching in frustration.

"I do as I please, just like you," Zoro replied dispassionately.

A deep, triumphant laugh echoed from behind the altar as the cook's father sauntered towards Zoro with a long, spear-like weapon gripped in his hand.

"I see this worthless brat has caused me nothing but trouble yet again. No matter, because you're going to give me the Haki right now," he growled at Zoro, leveling the spear threateningly at Sanji's throat. Pudding took several steps back, her white chiffon dress rustling as she gave them a wide berth.

"Don't give it to him!" the cook shouted, only to have the point shoved into his neck, just breaking the skin and causing a small trickle of blood to soak into his white collar.

Blistering rage swelled within the incubus's chest like a volcano just on the verge of erupting.

"You want the Haki? You got it," he said coldly.

Zoro dropped his luminous swords at his sides with a scatter of dissipating energy and stared unblinking at Sanji's tormentor. His dark pupils eclipsed his pearly irises as a sea of power rushed wildly through his body, pushing out his inky black wings, which he tucked behind him. The strange power crackled across his skin, causing the hair on his arms to stand on end and goosebumps to prickle across his flesh as he focused on the enemy that threatened his cook.

The power released with a snap, and the potent, invisible pressure wave of the Haki tore through the weak minds of the crowd, causing them to fall gracelessly atop one another like a writhing nest of poisoned rats.

Judge dropped his weapon and fell down on one knee, and Sanji was struggling to resist it behind him as he bent over on himself. But Zoro was unrelenting, his footsteps psychically resounding like the toll of a giant bell vibrating through the ground with each step. As he neared, he mercilessly bored the focus of the Haki into the Vinsmoke patriarch, causing him to fall forward flat on his face and knocking him completely out cold.

The incubus took in a calming breath, ceasing the attack, then rushed over to Sanji who was panting on all fours in front of the altar. He kneeled down and gently caught the cook in his arms as he finally succumbed to the Haki's power.

* * *

Zoro put forth his best effort to find a way out but got hopelessly lost, and with an unconscious Sanji in his arms and the clock ticking on when the wedding party would wake up, he ducked into a janitor's closet and wedged the door shut with a mop.

Sanji let out a shuddering breath as he came to, and Zoro helped him to stand.

"What the hell happened?" the cook groaned, the beginnings of a headache squeezing his brain.

"Haki. You know, that thing everyone wants because it does shit like this," the incubus replied, intently watching the other man.

"Why did you come for me?" Sanji asked, his voice thin.

"I don't know," Zoro said sullenly.

"You're an idiot," the cook scoffed.

"No, you're the idiot. Why the hell didn't you tell me about the old man?! I would have helped you! You almost got me killed, shit cook!" the incubus said harshly.

"They would have killed him if I had told you! You should have seen the state he was in when I got to him! Besides, I knew that you could handle yourself," Sanji argued back.

He watched as Zoro breathed a deep sigh. There was that look of hurt again.

"I'm sorry," the cook said softly.

The incubus just wearily nodded.

Sanji squeezed his hands into fists at his sides as he watched the other man unhappily cross his arms over his chest. The incubus sighed again, and something inside Sanji snapped.

"Screw this melodramatic bullshit," the cook said with an angry huff, grabbing a fistful of Zoro's shirt collar and yanking it towards him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" the confused incubus exclaimed, flailing to regain his balance after the sudden pull on his shirt. He grabbed Sanji's hand to tear him off, but stopped when he felt the cook trembling. Their faces were now nearly touching.

"You really want to know what's wrong with me?" Sanji gave a hoarse chuckle, strangling the fabric of Zoro's shirt between his fingers. "I was about to marry the cutest, sweetest girl I have ever met. She _baked_ , marimo. _Baked!_ " he shouted.

"Want me to take you back there, then?" Zoro asked caustically.

"Let me finish, you big green bastard! What I mean to say is there was one thing that kept getting in the way of me being able to concentrate on that perfect beauty," he told him.

"Boobs?" Zoro guessed, giving an unimpressed glare.

Sanji pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Why do I even bother?" he muttered.

"Well excuse me if I thought you needed rescuing. Sorry I ruined your wedding," Zoro practically pouted.

"Shut the hell up! You ruined _me,_ you jackass! Because all I could think about when I looked at her was how I didn't want to live a life without you in it!" Sanji ferociously yelled into his face.

Zoro blinked for moment, dumbfounded.

He pulled Sanji's chin up to search his unhidden eye. "Is that true?" he whispered like a prayer.

The cook gave a shallow nod. "Yeah. Unfortunately," he answered, slightly vexed.

Zoro was suddenly on him, the heat from his body making the cook begin to sweat as he caged him against wall in between his arms. In the space of a gasp, the incubus's lips were on him, kissing him meaningfully while flattening him out against the wall and possessively brushing up against the front of the cook's body with his own. Zoro could feel the human's energy already opening up to him, spreading through his aura like windswept flames. He sampled a little sip of his life force, savoring the warmth of Sanji's familiar beauty traveling through him again. The cook moaned lightly, his fingers spreading out across Zoro's chest.

A few spray bottles of cleaning solution tumbled to the floor with a skitter as Zoro's elbow bumped into a shelf. Sanji took advantage of the distraction to dig his fingers into the incubus's hips and forcefully push him to the ground, causing a mop bucket to skate out of the way as Zoro's head hit it on the way down. The cook crawled over his body and straddled him, ripping his bow tie off before descending to find his place on the incubus's mouth again.

"If there wasn't an army of some crazy sons of bitches after us, I'd fuck you so thoroughly right now," Zoro said in between kisses.

"If I were actually going to let you, it wouldn't be in a broom closet, marimo," Sanji panted.

"Is this the torture they promised me?" the incubus murmured, grinning.

They heard the sound of boots and angry voices close to the door and they both froze. The conversation was so muffled that Sanji could only make out a few words, and he looked to Zoro to fill him in when their pursuers had luckily moved on.

"The elevators have been stopped and the stairwells are being guarded," the incubus summarized without emotion.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Sanji asked in dismay, crawling off of Zoro and sitting beside him on the floor.

"I vote for kicking everyone's asses," Zoro replied with a stony frown.

"Idiot! Are you trying to get us killed?" the cook said in a breathy hiss.

"What do you propose, then?" the incubus huffed stubbornly.

"We take the express way down," Sanji told him, pointing his finger down as an advertisement for his plan.

"Huh?" the incubus raised an eyebrow.

"You have wings, and I can run on air. Let's just fly away," he offered with an easy shrug.

"No, I told you, they don't really work all that well!" Zoro snapped.

"I don't see that we have a choice!" Sanji spat back at him.

"Oh yeah, falling to my death is way better than fighting these assholes! We're going to die!" the fuming incubus said as he sat up on his elbows.

"We will if you keep yelling at me instead of working with me!" Sanji said belligerently, trying to keep his voice down.

"I'm not working with you because your idea is stupid!" Zoro barked in a whisper, his face getting hot.

"It's not stupid! Neither of us knows what to hell to do right now. All I know is that shit is not happening again. I'm not watching them take you away again!" Sanji said passionately, raising his voice.

Zoro grimaced, his forehead creased with worry.

"What the fuck are we going to do?" Sanji murmured to himself, resting his forehead in his palm.

"Shut up and concentrate. You're a whole lot smarter when you're in your right mind," Zoro told him, resting his hand on the cook's thigh.

"You're one to talk, moron. Even if you had a right mind, you'd still be a dumbass," Sanji replied ruefully.

Zoro gave an irritated grunt. "Then figure out a plan that doesn't involve us dying, professor curly brow."

Sanji's vivid blue eye met his, fighting the frustrated tears that Zoro saw welling up in it. The incubus leaned up and kissed him, cementing his claim on the other man's mouth yet again. Sanji sighed as his muscles loosened their vice-like tension, his hands resting on Zoro's solid chest as the incubus continued soothing him with his warm, welcoming lips.

Zoro reluctantly pulled away before things got carried away, and he carefully studied the other man.

"What do you think we should do, advisor?" Zoro asked.

The cook inhaled shakily as he gathered his thoughts. "Ok. Let me think," he said breathlessly.

The incubus watched Sanji close his eyes, as if in solemn meditation.

"Law. I bet Law could get us out of here. Call Luffy. Tell him that we'll be needing another ride," the cook replied with a fragile grin.

* * *

Law's inked fingers tapped the steering wheel of his black SUV as he impatiently waited for Luffy to emerge from the gas station convenience store. After they had made their plans to track Zoro down, Luffy had eagerly borrowed one of his coolers and started packing it full of snacks which he assured him were essential for their mission.

He then demanded that Law stop for even more necessary snacks and sodas. Normally, Law would blow a request like that right out of the water and keep on driving, but today, even though they were in a hurry, he had allowed it.

He kicked himself for getting suckered into stopping. It was annoying what that genuine, beaming smile of Luffy's did to him.

Annoying how much it reminded him of Cora.

The younger man emerged from the gas station with his arms full of sodas and colorful candy with a proud grin plastered on his face. He waddled to the car and tried to open the door, but candy kept dropping from his arms each time he tried to grab the handle.

Law groaned, reaching over and pushing the passenger door open for him.

"Just get in already!" he ordered, turning the engine over.

"Ok, sheesh," Luffy replied as he hopped into the passenger seat.

Law squealed out of the parking lot, more irritated at himself than Luffy.

"You mwant swome?" Luffy garbled with a mouth full of gummy worms.

"No," the tattooed man growled, staring straight ahead as he merged into traffic.

A happy melody rose from Luffy's pocket as they sped down the freeway.

He and Law exchanged a look before he shifted his snacks around and pulled his cell phone out.

"I don't know this number," the dark-haired young man said.

"Answer it," Law told him.

* * *

Hiding in the storage closet, Zoro and Sanji huddled around the cook's phone to make the call that could be their last hope. Luckily, Luffy picked up.

_"Hello, this is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be-"_

"Shut up Luffy, it's me. I don't have a lot of time, so just listen. Sanji and I are stuck on the top floor of the Germa 66 skyscraper. Hold up," he whispered as the cook laid an urgent hand on his shoulder. There was scuffling outside the door.

_"Zoro?"_ Luffy's voice squeaked from the phone.

"Hurry up and bring Law!" the incubus hissed, then pocketed Sanji's phone as his blades of energy knitted themselves together.

The door burst open, and their pursuers found themselves greeted by keen blades and fiery kicks. The pair made short work of this small security detail, but Zoro knew that somewhere on this floor, enemies many times more powerful were stalking them. He began to jog down the hall.

"Not that way, idiot!" Sanji yelled, snatching his arm and yanking him in the opposite direction.

A corner of Zoro's mouth tightened into a lopsided smile at the warmth of the cook's casual touch on his wrist as he ran, dragging him along. It reminded him of when he led them across a busy highway to escape the police, and thought it funny that it was now a good memory. Maybe this would become a good memory too, if they managed to escape, that is.

They bolted down a few long, lavishly decorated hallways, taking out a handful of stragglers from the wedding that they ran into along the way.

"Did Law say where to meet him?" Sanji asked, panting as he ran.

"No, I just talked to Luffy. I have no clue if they're even coming," Zoro replied.

The cook barked a laugh. "It's Luffy we're talking about, marimo. He's coming."

They ran until they reached a set of stylish wooden double doors framed by a floor-to-ceiling wall of decorative stonework. Sanji peeked inside to find it empty and motioned for Zoro to follow. They entered into a massive glass-encased atrium that was several stories tall, the decorative part of his family's skyscraper that jutted like the point of a crown into the sky. In the center at eye level, the window panels formed a giant circle filled with abstract shapes of stained glass that reminded Zoro vaguely of a cathedral's rose window. The sun was beginning to set now, the slanting light gently muted by the tinted glass.

"I think I remember a service stairwell this way," the cook muttered, pointing across the atrium.

They heard the slaps of several footfalls on the polished marble floor behind them. The incubus pivoted around to see Judge Vinsmoke and his sons with nauseating, arrogant grins spread across their faces and raid suits replacing their wedding clothes.

"End of the line, Roronoa," Judge proclaimed, tilting his head back to look at Zoro down his nose, his eyes as wild as his puffed up mane of thick blonde hair.

"Father's given up on you, Sanji. You're not even worth marrying off for the benefits any more," Yonji gave a cruel chuckle.

"You have brought shame to this family's name," Niji sneered, his swirl of blue hair bobbing as he spoke. "And shame to me."

Ichiji hummed in agreement, his arrogant, ruthless eyes hidden behind the cold lenses of his sunglasses. "It would have been better if you had never been born. Because now I have to waste my time correcting that mistake," he said threateningly, the hovering boots he wore humming in anticipation.

With a barometric suck of power that each of them felt, Zoro shot forward. The edge of his glowing sword was suddenly balanced at Ichiji's throat.

"Make a single move towards him and you die," the incubus snarled, his eyes the color of a splash of light dancing on a folded steel blade.

Ichiji raised a curly eyebrow. "Do it," he challenged with an unbothered grin.

Adrenaline flooded through Zoro's body. He was seriously tempted. The other two brothers surrounded him, and the crackle of electricity snapped from behind him.

"Roronoa!" Judge's deep, growling voice belted across the room, interrupting the impending violence. The sound of a shatter of glass was like a cymbal crash in the large space.

Zoro threw a glance over to the colorful window and froze.

A jagged hole had been punched through the window, and the Vinsmoke patriarch held a bleeding Sanji out of the window over the street 66 stories down by his throat.

"His life for the Haki!" he said, shaking the unconscious cook, whose legs dangled like a puppet's.

Zoro swept his arm and a wave of raw, chaotic energy threw the brothers across the room. He started towards the towering man, his eyes murderously trained on the Vinsmoke patriarch.

"The Haki," Judge demanded as Zoro drew near.

"Don't...give it to him…" a strained voice groaned through the window. As Sanji's dull eye met his, Zoro saw an eerie sense of peace in it.

The incubus hesitated, his eyes glued to the cook.

"I'll drop him!" Judge snarled as he lowered the cook a little closer to the ground.

Zoro took another step towards Judge, his eyebrows furrowed in indecision. It wasn't the Haki that was Zoro's treasure.

With his father distracted, Sanji managed to wrench open his fist with his fingers just enough to slip through his grasp before blacking out from his head injury.

The unconscious cook fell swiftly towards the street below.


	19. Chapter 19

Zoro skidded on the marble floor, pushing aside Judge without a second thought and flinging his head out of the hole in the glass to watch Sanji plummet down.

"Come on," he whispered, willing the cook to jump through the air like he did during their fight.

Behind him, Judge laughed with sickening mirth. "I guess you were too slow, Roronoa!"

"He's going to go out like he lived: like a stain on the ground!" one of the brothers said, and the rest cackled and jeered as they eagerly peered out the windows.

"Come on, come on," Zoro repeated, ignoring the others entirely as he desperately waited for Sanji to move to safety, a move that was becoming obvious wasn't coming.

The incubus squeezed the edge of the broken glass and a line of his blood trickled down the colorful shapes. He didn't know what a life with Sanji would even look like, but he wanted it, more than anything. He didn't want to live a life without him either.

"Don't be stupid, Roronoa!" Sanji's father shouted, lurching towards the Haki bearer as Zoro readied himself for movement.

Before Judge could catch him, the incubus dove through the hole like an Olympic diver, and found himself suddenly in freefall, the wind rushing through his shirt and hair. Cars looked like cheap toys below as he spotted Sanji. There was still time.

His glamour shattered and his black wings unfurled, and immediately they were uselessly blown skyward by the rush of air. Zoro grunted and tucked them to his back, then angled himself down and dove to catch up to the cook.

The air whipped across his face, making his skin burn and his eyes tear up from the friction as he held his arms to his sides and pointed straight down towards the unconscious blond. His stomach flipped as he stole a harrowing look at the certain death below them.

He was getting closer to Sanji, but not fast enough.

Zoro opened his wings, beating them with hard thrusts to surge through the air. The cars were getting a lot bigger now as the ground rushed up towards him.

He pushed one more time with his wings, and it gave him just enough speed to reach the cook. The incubus grabbed his limp form from the air and squeezed him to his chest.

Zoro spread their one hope, a matching set of glossy black wings that gleamed with purple and gold hues in the evening sun. They opened like a parachute, but the balance was off and they immediately began to corkscrew into tight, uncontrolled spinning.

The incubus clenched his teeth, forcing his wings to even out, trying to coax his limbs whose length had been stunted by thousands of years of his ancestors' disuse of them to carry them to safety, just this once.

He almost dropped the cook as one wing suddenly faltered, and they plummeted several stories before Zoro managed to right them again.

His eyes caught the top floor of a parking garage to the right, not too far away but coming up quickly. If he could glide to it, he wouldn't have to struggle with his wings the rest of the way to the ground. He changed course, stretching his aching feathers out to catch what wind he could, and aimed for it. Zoro was losing altitude at an alarming rate, and he just barely managed to clear the top of the structure.

He came in like a crippled plane, racing too fast for a proper landing on the structure. As he flew over the parking spaces, he awkwardly flapped in an attempt to get any sort of wind resistance to slow them. But he had no other choice. Zoro decided to come in for a crash landing before he flew off of the other end of the building and had even more problems to deal with.

Clutching the cook tightly to his chest, he touched down and began to run to slow them, the rubber from the bottom of his tennis shoes shearing off on the rough concrete with each footfall. Sanji's weight threw them off balance, and the incubus tripped, lurching forward. Zoro flipped on his back just before hitting the ground and he slid, cradling the cook on his stomach as he grimaced in pain. They finally came to a halt, and Zoro donned his glamour to hide his injured wings and lay there for a few moments as his innate power healed his torn back.

The incubus scooped the cook up and ran into the cavelike mouth of the parking structure, where he broke into a beat-up service van and settled on the floor with the door slightly ajar for airflow.

Zoro cradled Sanji's head in his lap, his fingers radiating soft, white energy that moved fluidly around the injury. He was so engrossed that he didn't notice the white mist that was slowly creeping up around his folded legs.

The cook slid out of his lap as white clouds of smoke suddenly spiraled around the incubus, pulling him out of the van and restraining him in midair. A flashlight clicked on, and two figures approached. Zoro cursed under his breath when he saw it was the police captain and the girl who eerily resembled his sister.

"When you are as wanted as you are, you should be watching your surroundings even when you feed, Emerald Prince," Smoker said blandly.

"He wasn't feeding," Sanji said weakly from the vehicle, grimacing as he sat up shakily, an unlit cigarette already in his mouth.

Zoro whipped his head over to the cook, then closed his eyes and heaved a relieved sigh.

"We're not dumb. We saw you, energy thief!" Tashigi replied in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Someone like you is going to see what they want," Zoro grumbled, then focused his steely gaze back on Smoker. "How the hell are you here, anyway?" he asked sharply.

"It wasn't hard to follow the gossip of wedding guests to your whereabouts, then track you when you suddenly fell out of the sky. But I'm here for answers," Smoker growled in a low rumble.

"I'm being told to tell my men things I know are lies. I sure as hell know you're not a Revolutionary Army official, and that you didn't have anything to do with your family's deaths," he explained.

"Yeah. You got that right," Zoro frowned, clenching his teeth.

"But why disappear for all those years? Why didn't you come back to the palace and claim the throne?" Smoker asked.

"Because it was never safe to come back. Lucci conspired to kill my family, and he would have killed me for the Haki if I went back," Zoro replied.

"He's lying," Tashigi snapped in a flash of anger.

Smoker held up a hand signaling her to calm down. "So you went into hiding," he continued.

"I bounced around a few places. You know where I ended up, at the Baratie," Zoro said.

"And you're the owner's son?" the captain asked Sanji.

"Yes, but my father has nothing to do with this," Sanji said protectively of Zeff as he sat up.

Smoker paused, the most important question forming on his lips.

"What do you want with the throne?" he asked, as if his next move would be based solely on the answer.

Zoro raised an eyebrow, scowling as he wondered how much more he wanted to tell his captor.

"I don't want to rule. Never did. But the people I want to protect will never be safe as long as Lucci is King. I decided there was one thing I wanted do with this useless royal blood," he said as he met Smoker's eyes, and the two sized each other up like generals across a battlefield.

"I'm going to put the throne back into the hand of a human. My successor Luffy is going to be the greatest King there ever was," the incubus told them.

Smoker's and Tashigi's mouths dropped open in unison.

"That can't be possible! That's a lie!" the lieutenant said in disbelief, her eyes wide behind the rims of her glasses.

"I'm afraid he's very serious, my dear," Sanji told her with a soft smile.

Smoker studied Zoro's eyes carefully. "So this is what makes you dangerous," he slowly spoke.

With a wave of his hand, the billowing smoke dissipated and Zoro dropped to the ground.

"What are you doing, Captain?!" Tashigi exclaimed.

"You'll get just one chance from me. I won't prevent you from leaving. This time. Next time we meet, both of you are going to jail," Smoker said gruffly.

He walked a few paces with Tashigi reluctantly following behind him, then paused and turned around. "A trap is being set for you, Roronoa. A trap that you won't be able to prevent walking into," Smoker said, thick chimneys of smoke rising from his cigars.

"What kind of trap?" Zoro pressed.

Smoker ignored the question, instead pulling out a small slip of paper from his pocket, which he floated to them on a tendril of smoke.

"There is someone at the palace who wants to talk to you. Calling them could mean the difference between life and death," he said cryptically.

The incubus took the piece of paper and examined it. There was just a phone number scrawled on it, nothing else. When he looked back up, the captain and lieutenant were gone. Zoro grunted as he pushed himself off of the ground and made his way to the van.

"You ok?" Zoro asked, turning to Sanji.

"I'm ok. Besides a headache that is," the cook grinned, then winced slightly as pain squeezed his brain. "What happened?"

The incubus crawled back into the van and sat beside him.

"I managed to save you, that's what happened. You owe me an explanation," Zoro said with a bite of anger.

"Those people can't get the Haki, marimo. I would die a thousand times over before I let that happen. You would have given it to them, wouldn't you?" the cook bit back.

"Of course not!" the incubus protested, but it was apparent that he was unable to meet the cook's penetrating glare.

Sanji clenched his fists, having gotten his answer. "Look, I know you and I have been getting close, but you have to remember the big picture. My life isn't worth the fate of an entire kingdom," he said.

Zoro's muscles tensed as he answered back with stony silence.

The cook's uncovered eye slid over to him. "Why did you jump after me? You could have died too, if your wings are as useless as you say they are," he asked.

"Trust me, they're about as useful as a hang glider with a hole in it," Zoro grunted. "I went after you for the same reason why I stopped your wedding," he said.

"Which is?"

"Because you belong with me," the incubus whispered, his voice dark and deep.

Sanji took in a sharp breath.

"Why do you have to say that kind of shit to me, marimo?" the cook hissed, an embarrassing pink blush gracelessly splotching his face.

"Are you seriously that surprised after what you said to me in that closet? But we can talk about that later. We've got to get the hell out of here right now," Zoro sighed as he stood.

Sanji nodded. "Let's go find our ride," he agreed.

* * *

Law had circled the building's footprint for the third time, trying to figure out a way past the droves of what looked like private security that were menacingly poised in high alert just outside.

"There sure are a lot of guys with those ear radio thingies," Luffy remarked as he stared out the window. A parking spot across the street from the Germa 66 building's front entrance opened up and Law quickly swooped in to take it.

"Their lackeys appear to be searching for something, which probably means Zoro and Sanji are on the run," Law mused as he covertly eyed the situation on the other side of the busy street.

"We have to find them first. We'll need some sort of signal," the grim man muttered.

Before Law could stop him, Luffy was already outside of the car.

"ZORO! SANJI!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs.

The tattooed man lunged out of the car door, tripping over himself in his haste and barely catching his fall on the pavement with his palms. "Shut the hell up, you idiot!" he hissed, clutching his injured chest with a grimace.

But it was too late. Luffy had already attracted the attention of the many guards in front of the Vinsmoke's building.

"ZORO! SANJI!" the smaller man continued to yell, knocking the security men who approached him away with a whipping kick and ignoring them with oblivious unconcern.

Traffic came to a screeching halt as some of the trained guards open fired on the rubbery man. Law, who had already been shot more times than he was comfortable with in recent memory, cursed to himself as he ducked into the shadow of his SUV. He flung open the back passenger door and grabbed his sword from the back seat, the hazy walls of his Room expanding as he stepped out from behind the vehicle, holding his unsheathed blade in front of his body.

_"Scan,"_ Law muttered as he moved the sword in front of him, focusing on the advancing crowd of guards spilling out from the skyscraper. With a yank of his hand, a pile of pistols suddenly appeared at his feet, cutting off the barrage of gunfire that was focused on Luffy.

"Whoa, so cool Torao!" Luffy exclaimed with an unfazed laugh.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Law snapped irately. While he was distracted with Luffy, a canister rolled in front of them and exploded, instantly blanketing them with choking smoke.

* * *

The staccato punches of gunfire instantly grabbed Zoro and Sanji's attention. The incubus quickly rushed to the barrier wall of the parking structure and surveyed the landscape below.

"There. By the front," the cook gestured at the rising pillar of smoke wafting from the street at the doorstep of the Vinsmoke's building.

"It's got to be Luffy," Zoro said, pushing off of the concrete and making for the stairwell.

"ZOROOO!" a high pitched voice crackled through the air like lightning from the valley between the buildings. The incubus gave a fierce smile as he charged down the parking garage's greasy stairs with Sanji following close behind.

The pair poured out into the street into a fog of choking gas.

"Are you kidding me? Again?!" Sanji screamed to Zoro before he shed his tux coat and pressed it to his face. The cook was about to duck back into the parking garage, but Zoro grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait," he coughed, his head cocked like a hunting dog sensing a whistle from far away.

As the cook glared at him through angry, stinging tears, he heard the whine of an engine approaching. The sleek form of Law's black SUV, now riddled with bullet holes, broke through the clouds as it screeched down the road. The vehicle almost passed them, but drove up onto the curb in front of the pair at the last moment. Law sharply beeped the horn for them to get in.

They sprinted into the car, and their grumpy driver floored it, swerving around arriving police cars which had been called to the scene.

"Zoro! Sanji! You're alright!" Luffy laughed, reaching back and giving them both a squeezing hug.

"Be happy later, I need to concentrate," Law snapped, his eyes locked onto the road. He drove a few blocks then pulled into a parking garage.

Law snatched the ticket from the machine at the entrance with an irritated yank and nearly clipped the boom as he drove the battered vehicle up the ramp into the dark cave of parking spaces. They climbed ever higher up the structure until they were nearly at the top, the cars here thinning out like sparse trees high up on a mountain.

"What are you doing?" Zoro demanded as they all got out of the vehicle.

"We are procuring a new car. People tend to notice bullet holes," the tattooed man said dispassionately, gesturing at the pockmarked metal and the shattered windows.

"Car shopping!" Luffy laughed, running up to a lime green sports car. "Torao, what about this one?" he called over.

"I'm picking out the car," Law said with finality.

"Hey, I want to help you pick it out since I'm going to be riding in it too. You have to make sure it has enough cup holders," Luffy insisted.

Law gave an exasperated sigh as he stomped up the ramp towards a cluster of SUVs, Luffy following like a puppy at his heels.

Sanji smoked a cigarette, slowly lagging at a distance behind the pair. Zoro fell in beside him.

"About what you said in the closet..." the incubus began, watching Sanji from the corner of his eye.

The cook's aura filled with dancing flickers of nervous energy. "What about it?" he asked with forced nonchalance, taking a deep pull from his cigarette.

The incubus's gaze passed over the invisible glowing life force that hugged close to Sanji's body and saw it was quivering with agitation. "You've sure changed your tune about me from when we started out at the Baratie."

Sanji threw down his mostly finished cigarette and stomped on it, then turned on Zoro. "Yeah. Yeah, a lot of things have changed, especially the Baratie! If I had never met you, I wouldn't be in this situation! Now we have no restaurant, and thanks to my family finding me, even if we do manage to survive Lucci, which is unlikely, we're never going to be safe again!"

"We'll just kick their asses if they come again," Zoro replied irritably.

"Really? Easy as that? Tell me how it would have gone down back there if we had really had to fight them all at once!" Sanji demanded acidly.

"We would have kicked their asses, that's what!" the incubus retaliated.

Sanji stomped over and stuck a finger in Zoro's face. "No, we would have died, and then what I said in the closet wouldn't have even mattered!"

"Well we didn't die, and now you don't get off so easy, cook, because now you're going to have to deal with the consequences of what you started with me!" he yelled, pulling the cook to him and swooping in for an angry kiss.

The sound of someone clearing their throat punctuated the air.

The pair turned their head to find Law impatiently frowning from the silver SUV that had just pulled up next to them.

"I just promised Luffy that he could eat meat as soon as we got home if he got into this car. Don't make me have to make a similar promise to you two. Enough with the foreplay, get in, you can stuff whatever you want into your mouths when we get home, I don't care," the tattooed man grumbled.

"I already have dibs on the meat!" Luffy chirped cheerfully, popping his head through the window from the passenger seat.

* * *

The pair silently complied, the cook's skin practically turning a bright shade of fuschia.

Waves of anger rolled off of Sanji as he buckled his seatbelt without a word and pulled out his phone to make a call.

Zoro heard the trills of several rings before a familiar voice picked up.

"Robin-chan! Is he safe? Is he ok?!" the cook blurted out as soon as she answered.

The incubus stared out the window, doing his best not to eavesdrop. After a few moments, Zoro heard a gruff voice shouting through the receiver, and he smiled to himself. Yelling like that, the old man was just fine.

"Oi, I saved you, didn't I?" the cook barked back. "Zoro is fine!" he insisted.

Zeff's muffled voice kept tearing into him. If the incubus concentrated, he would have been able to understand what he was saying, but it was funnier just seeing Sanji squirm.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I didn't see any other way. They would have killed you and you know it," Sanji said to his father, his anger winding down.

The cadence of the old man's voice changed, almost like he was suggesting something.

"Shut the hell up, shitty old geezer!" the cook hissed, cupping his hand over the receiver.

The incubus raised an eyebrow.

The cook hung up after the conversation ended, tiredly rubbing his eyes. "He's pissed off, ungrateful bastard. Said we don't sell out family," he sighed.

"He knows," Zoro grunted.

"Excuse me?" Sanji whispered abruptly, his angry eyes flashing to the others seated at the front of the car in a warning.

"He knows about us, doesn't he?" the incubus continued in a low voice, ignoring the cook's discomfort.

"There is no us," Sanji growled, his face scrunching up in annoyance.

Zoro leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms behind his head as he slyly watched the cook out of the corner of his eye.

"We're going to have a little family discussion about that," he said confidently.

* * *

It was after midnight when they finally reached Law's beach house.

As soon as the SUV stopped, Zoro yanked Sanji out by his elbow and headed towards to the beach.

"We are going to talk. Alone," the incubus emphasized in front of the other men, his commanding gaze like piercing blades as he met their eyes. Law and Luffy watched dumbfounded as he continued to drag the cook down to the beach without another word.

"I wonder what they're going to talk about," Luffy whispered, his eyes following Zoro's shadow in the moonlight.

"I think they're going to go advise each other," Law said smartly.

"Oh, right," Luffy nodded. "Zoro give lots of people advice," he replied plainly, making the other man wonder if he was being sarcastic or not.

Law raised an eyebrow. "But it gives us time to talk," the tattooed man said cryptically.

"What do you want to talk about?" Luffy asked casually, starting towards the house.

Law slammed a hand against the SUV, blocking his path with his arm.

"There's something you haven't told me about yourself," he said as he inched closer to the young man's tensing form.

Luffy practically pouted, disappointed by the desire he saw in Law's intense eyes. "I already told you, Torao. I'm never going to be attracted to you-"

"Sexually. You're never going to be attracted to me sexually," Law clarified.

Luffy's eyebrows dashed down as he glared at him with annoyance. "Right. I already told you," he said.

"But it's plain to see that you're attracted to me in other ways. Isn't that right?"

"What?!" Luffy said, his heart beating faster.

"Oh please. You're someone who knows what his heart wants. You know exactly what I'm talking about," Law accused, inching close enough that Luffy began to feel the gentle heat from his body.

Luffy squinted as he searched Law's grey eyes. "I'm happy with who I am. I don't need you to feel sorry for me, Torao," he said stiffly.

"If you know anything about me, you know that I don't pity people," Law said gruffly.

"Then what do you want from me?" the raven-haired boy asked, flustered and confused.

Law heaved out a breath, withdrawing his arm and rubbing his temples.

"I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for from you, but if I was just wanting to get off I could call a dozen incubi and succubi who would gladly pay me for it. There's something about you that is making being around you...complicated. You are absolutely not my type, but you remind me of a brief window in time when my life was good, and I don't know where the hell I'm going with this, but it's not in your pants, not unless you want it," Law said, the speed of his words betraying his emotions.

Luffy stared at him in open shock, his thoughts like a field of flashing fireflies all crossing paths at once. He rushed forward and nearly tackled Law in a full-body embrace, his ear squished against his chest to hear the other man's heart beating.

"I like you too, Torao," Luffy said as his buried his face into Law's shirt. " For a minute I thought for sure you were going be an asshole and say you could change me."

"You're a force of nature. It would be like trying to tell the ocean to become the shore," Law replied.

Luffy stood on his tiptoes and gently pressed his lips against Law's in a delicate kiss that brushed smoothly against the other man's mouth. Law dug his tattooed fingers into Luffy's sides, drawing him closer. As Luffy pulled away, Law squinted, carefully analyzing the dark-haired boy's expression.

"Did that feel alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. It was nice because it was you," Luffy said with a wide grin, looking after Zoro's and Sanji's footprints in the sand with gentle expression as he held the other man close.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken me longer to post than usual, this is my longest chapter to date. I hope it's worth the wait!
> 
> * * *
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> * * *

"Oi! I can walk, you know!" Sanji complained, pulling his arm away from Zoro with an angry snarl.

"Then come on. I have a lot to say that I don't want overheard," the incubus said gruffly, not bothering to turn around as he pushed onwards.

He led Sanji along the shore, their shoes sinking into the mounds of fine sand. It was unusually dark here, a rare stretch of unoccupied waterfront property with a forest bordering the rolling sand dunes along the shore. A pleasantly cool breeze flowed in from the ocean.

"I bet this place is really pretty during the day," Sanji quietly commented.

The incubus abruptly stopped, spinning around on the human. "We need to talk," he said.

The cook crossed his arms and scowled stubbornly at the green-haired man. "It's been a long, shitty day, and I'm not in the mood for this conversation right now. All I want to do is get a shower and sleep," he said irritably.

Zoro gave a hoarse chuckle. "Not this time. You've spent this whole week testing the waters then running when things start to get deep. What are you so afraid of?" the incubus asked, frustration giving his tone a bitter bite.

"I'm not afraid, you ass!" the cook insisted, leaning in to yell it into the other man's face.

"I don't think you're shouting it loud enough to convince yourself yet," Zoro said, unimpressed.

Sanji visibly jerked, meeting the incubus's gaze with fury. "You're right, I do need convincing. Convince me that seeing my lover with other people would be worth it!" he yelled.

"Do you trust me?" Zoro asked, his deep voice smooth and fervent.

"Last time you asked me that you got into my pants," the cook said with a huff.

"I'm not talking about sex right now. Do you trust me?" he repeated very seriously.

"...Yeah," the cook sighed, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion.

"Then trust me when I say I'll work something out that we'll both be ok with," he told him.

"Assuming I want to be with you in the first place," the cook said under his breath.

Zoro's face darkened, and the shine of his eyes disappeared into the shadow of his brow. "We're getting this out into the open right now. You're the one who said you wanted me in your life. So which am I going to be, your friend or your lover?" he asked plainly.

Sanji's gaze fell on the inky black ocean, his breaths becoming ragged and shallow, his heartbeat deafening to Zoro's ears. The cook's energy flickered around him like colorful aurora, the intense hues making the beautiful display shiver with the colors of longing and desire that Zoro wished he could reach out and taste for himself.

"Which is it?" he repeated.

"Congratulations, marimo. When I told you that I didn't want to live my life without you, I wasn't talking about friendship," the cook said at last, crossing his arms tightly against his chest.

Zoro's pulse quickened as he moved in closer. "Then if you want me to be your lover, quit running," he said.

"There's a difference between running and being unsure of something," Sanji said wearily, taking out his cigarettes. Zoro swooped in and grabbed them from his hand.

"You don't need those right now," the incubus said, slipping the pack back into Sanji's suit pocket. "Let me help you calm down," he offered invitingly.

"You mean, 'let me fuck you,' " Sanji translated, glaring at him.

"I didn't mean it that way, but if that's the way you want to take it I would love to show you what it's like to be with an incubus," Zoro murmured into the cook's ear, unbuttoning the black buttons of his white tux shirt.

Sanji closed his eyes, allowing Zoro to slide the shirt off of his shoulders and drop it to the ground.

"I don't give a shit about what it's like being with an incubus," the cook said bluntly, shuddering as the cool night air fell on his bare skin.

Zoro gritted his teeth and took in a heavy, broken breath.

"That expression doesn't suit you at all, marimo," Sanji said with a brooding frown. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before he spoke again.

"I meant I'd rather know what it's like being with _you,"_ he said softly. The incubus's downcast eyes immediately snapped up to the other man's reddening face.

"But it's not like we have to go doing anything right away or anything," the blond said quickly, immediately regretting his honesty. "I mean, it would be insane to jump right into all of that, because although that might work fine for an incubus, it-"

Zoro cut him off. "Cook, you have been driving me crazy with how turned on you've been this entire conversation, and I'm pretty sure you're waiting for me to make a move so you don't have to admit you asked for it, am I right? I can make a move, but you better tell me right now if that isn't what you want," he warned.

"Well, you've been driving me crazy with how hungry you've been this whole time! I was trying to have a serious conversation and you just keep staring at my energy," the cook said angrily.

"Want me to quit looking, crybaby? Sorry that I'm hungry," the green-haired man said.

"Food tastes better when you're hungry," Sanji quietly replied.

Zoro gave a soft snort. "You in the mood to cook?"

Sanji rolled his eyes. "Alright, yes, enough with the euphemisms. Just hurry up before I change my mind, idiot," he grumbled.

"Fair enough." Zoro grinned and pulled Sanji to him, squeezing his shoulders as their mouths connected in a dizzying wave of emotion that began washing away the reservations that either still harbored. It was now an absolute necessity to be closer, to bring their suppressed feelings for one another out into the light and into the physical realm.

Their gentle kisses grew more intense by the moment as they adjusted to the sensation of each other and began to match the other's pace. The incubus's glamour dropped like a heavy curtain, and Sanji immediately felt the irresistible pull of the intoxicating allure that had once made it hard even to stay seated across the room from him. The moon blanketed the beach like a spotlight as Zoro began to draw from the warm desire flooding through him.

Through eager kisses and breathy murmurs the incubus stripped them both bit by bit, throwing their clothing on top of the sand to form a makeshift blanket. He laid the cook down on the raft of clothes, their naked skin bathed silver in the moonlight.

Goosebumps raised all over Sanji's body as Zoro teased his bare skin with kisses that flowed over him like rivers. He blazed a lingering trail that began at his neck, then traveled with a swirl of his tongue around his alert nipples, then kissed down his flat, toned stomach and into the valley of his hips. The cook automatically lifted his lower body, groaning with disappointment as Zoro crawled back up and rejoined his lips with a teasing smirk.

Sanji panted as he arched his back, curving himself to the shape of Zoro's body and losing himself in the heat of the other man's touch. He pulled the incubus down on top of him until finally nothing separated them. Zoro could feel the firmness of the cook's arousal against his own, and he rotated his hips to generate some quick pangs of pleasure.

"Zoro," the other man groaned, his breath coming in hot puffs against the incubus's collarbone.

"You better know how much I fucking trust you to let you do this to me," Sanji whispered, digging his fingers into the incubus's shoulders as his hips swirled against him.

"I do," Zoro replied, raising up on his elbows to fully see his face.

"This sure as hell is not going to be our default arrangement. Next time you're mine," the cook said, his intelligent blue eye assessing Zoro's reaction through the haze of impatient desire.

"I'd be disappointed any other way, cook. If I know anything about you, it's that you give as good as you get," he told him, giving a lazy grin as he watched Sanji's expression relax again.

Maybe if he kept getting closer to Sanji, if he kept the beautiful taste of him flowing into him a little longer, he would hear more Zoros than marimos, more trusting communication like this. More perfect moans underneath him.

Zoro couldn't help himself. Rarely did he let his own aura mingle with his donor's, but at the moment, his was reaching far into the cook's life force, creating a coupling of their essences that was in many ways even more intimate than sex. Any closer, and the incubus could use his power to walk right into his mind and see the cook's thoughts and dreams.

"Now what should I do to you?" Zoro mused as he snatched a loose black feather from his wing and absentmindedly flicked it along the planes of the cook's exposed skin. The sensations of his energy mixing with the other man's raced through his blood, stirring up feelings of closeness so deep it was frightening.

"Do the only thing you're good at, you bastard," Sanji said, his eyes squeezing shut as the greedy tendrils of Zoro's power lapped at his sexual energy again.

The incubus felt around the clothes where his pants lay behind him and pulled out his wallet, taking a small packet out of it and ripping it open. He squeezed a little lube out and rubbed it between his fingers to warm it before spreading it in between the cook's thighs. Sanji trembled as the incubus massaged outside him at first, taking it slow on this untested part of him.

Sanji gasped as Zoro consumed more of his beautiful life force. The incubus slowly pushed in a finger, gently working himself deeper into the cook, feeling himself becoming even harder as he breached the scalding heat that relentlessly squeezed around his finger.

"Relax," Zoro muttered, spreading his other hand out on the cook's thigh and stroking it up and down.

"It actually feels good," Sanji whispered in reply.

"That's because I'm the one doing it," the incubus said, adding another and stretching him even more as his consuming power encircled Sanji like an embrace.

He slowly worked his way up, pumping more fingers into Sanji until he was ready for him. The cook watched with undisguised lust as Zoro added more lube in the appropriate places, then positioned himself over his body.

Zoro clasped one of Sanji's hands together with his own and pressed it above his head on the ground. With his other hand, the incubus reached down and tented Sanji's legs, then lined himself up, pressing just the tip of his cock into him.

He squeezed Sanji's hand as he took a huge, mind-melting gulp of his energy. Zoro grunted as he thrust forward, his folded wings involuntarily spreading open a bit as the shock of Sanji's body clamping all around him sent a wall of pleasure slamming into him. He watched with satisfaction as the cook's face contorted, pursing his lips and screwing his curly eyebrows together in a way that sent lightning straight to Zoro's cock. The incubus slowly pushed himself further in while Sanji squeezed the life out of his hand until at last he was completely buried.

"Why does this... feel so fucking incredible?" Sanji gasped as the incubus paused to catch his breath.

"Because I give a damn about you," Zoro replied soothingly, circling his hips around to ensure he was completely inside.

He began to move, feeding without restraint as he dragged himself out, then plunged deeply back in. In the dim light, the waves of blurry energy glowed softly like a warm stream of starlight as it was drawn from the cook and poured into Zoro.

Sanji brought Zoro down to him and snaked his arms around the other man, dragging his fingertips over the downy black fuzz in between his wings. Zoro bit his lip as the rush from the gentle stimulation washed over him, making him rock his hips against the backs of the cook's thighs in response.

Their lips fused again, and the rest of the world melted away, until nothing mattered but the rhythm of their bodies and the glow of pure life being shared between them.

Sanji felt like he was high above the Earth, looking down on it as if Zoro had laid him back into the curl of the crescent moon, his feet sinking into the sandy stardust of the lunar surface. The world began to tilt and spin, and he reeled with dizziness as his view melted and changed.

Suddenly Sanji could acutely smell the salt of the ocean, hear the rush of open water. The wood underneath his feet rocked and creaked, and he woke with a kitchen knife in his hand. He dropped it with a clatter next to a cutting board he was positioned over and spun around, surveying his surroundings. He was in the spacious galley of a ship, full of warmth and comfort along with high-end kitchen appliances, including the fridge with a lock that he had always longed for.

The cook's thoughts raced. _Wasn't I just with Zoro?_ he thought, his face burning. Just where the hell was he?

Sanji flung his head out the door, his eyes widening as he scanned the odd ship appraisingly. Schools of shimmering, colorful fish darted through the startlingly blue water off deck. Although it was strange that a boat had a lawn and trees in the middle of it, the ship had a certain charm to it, a well-lived in atmosphere that things earn when they are truly loved and cared for.

He looked down at the tailored suit and tie he was wearing with disappointment as he disappeared back into the galley. Wherever he was, even as intriguing as it was, he missed Zoro and the feel of his body. He didn't feel like wearing clothes right now.

As the cook inspected the kitchen, a shadow appeared in the doorway. Sanji looked up and his face flared with tingling heat as he stared openly at the man blocking the exit. Zoro was leaning shirtless against the door frame, his tan skin lightly misty as if he just had a hard workout. The incubus's long, deep scar on his chest navigated a landscape of beautifully built muscle, and his slightly baggy black pants looked like they could easily accommodate a roaming hand or more. The cook reached up to loosen his tie.

"See something you like, shit cook?" the incubus rumbled as he shut the door and locked it behind him.

"You wish. What the hell is going on? I thought we were..."

"I couldn't help taking a peek at your dreams. I'm surprised you've dreamed about me like this," he said in a sultry tone, creeping towards the cook and backing him up into the counter and pinning him there.

"It's a nice surprise, curly brow. I'll be your pirate swordsman any day," the green-haired man said with a cocky smirk.

"What the hell are you talking about? How can we be in a dream?!" Sanji demanded, flustered. He gulped as he suddenly recognized this scenario. This was indeed a dream he had very recently while he was captured, one where he had woken up with his own hand in his boxers and fantasies of Zoro playing on repeat in his head.

"Oh fuck. Incubi can go into dreams," the cook realized in a panic.

The green-haired man shook his head. "It's like you keep forgetting I do this incubus thing for a living. This dream was my favorite, the one where the first mate gives it to you hard in front of the oven," Zoro breathed into his neck.

Sanji took in a sharp breath as the incubus flipped him and bent him over, roughly slamming his chest against the kitchen counter. The cook's fingernails scratched into the wood as the Zoro flung the tail of his button-up shirt over his back.

"Fuck you! I should kick the shit out of you! Do you think you can just waltz into my private dream and bend me over like this?!" the cook yelled.

"That's the idea," Zoro muttered as he unzipped his own pants. His rough hand turned on the cook's pants, undoing his belt and yanking them down so that they fell around his knees. The incubus reached one hand over to the counter and tipped over a bottle of olive oil into his palm, then spread it on him, using a couple of fingers to stretch him wide open.

"You moss headed bastard! That's for cooking only!" the cook gasped, raising his head up and looking behind him with a glare. The other man harshly pushed him back down against the counter.

"Marimo, wait," Sanji growled into the countertop. "You might be on top this time, but I'm the one in control here. Got it?" he said sharply, his cheeks flaring crimson.

"I get it. Give me the word and I'll stop," Zoro said with a shrug.

He felt the muscles of the cook's back that he was stroking relax, the tension turning to excitement as the other man shivered.

"You're so turned on you're shaking," the incubus said with a deep purr. Sanji felt the solid, velvet warmth of the tip of Zoro's cock push into him as the incubus matched himself up, then mercilessly plowed into him with a snap of his lower body.

Sanji let out a low cry, which echoed loudly through the kitchen. Inexplicably, the sensation was not that of pain, but of delicious pleasure.

"You didn't have to ram it in like that, you bastard! I'm going to be sore!" the cook said brokenly, dropping his head to the counter.

"Not in a dream you won't. If I really fucked you like this you wouldn't be able to walk tomorrow," the incubus replied as he began to move, repeatedly thrusting deep inside, the rhythmic beating of skin against skin lurching Sanji forward. Shit, it was incredible screwing the cook's body and mind at the same time.

The incubus brought Sanji down to the floor on his hand and knees, tearing the cook's pants off of his body to spread his flexible legs apart, then roughly squeezing his fingers around his hips. Zoro relentlessly pumped into him like a battering ram as his driving hips purpled the backs of the cook's thighs.

"More," Sanji commanded, covering a silent moan with his hand.

The incubus raised an eyebrow but obliged the cook by pushing his head against the floor and fucking his raised rear from above. The silk of Sanji's blond hair slid through his fingers as his hand retreated, slowly dragging along the side of his chest and ribs to settle in the small of his back. Zoro felt his own dick twitch in anticipation, spurred on by the cook's unceasing moans.

If he wasn't careful, Zoro would be the one coming first, for the thought of releasing inside, flooding deep into the far reaches of the cook's body at this inclined angle made his tensing muscles begin readying themselves for the climb to climax.

The cook flinched as Zoro reached around and grabbed his cock, his hand still slicked with oil, and began stroking it up and down. Sanji reached up and covered Zoro's hand, urging him to go faster, practically jacking himself off by proxy. The incubus could feel the other's man's energy ramping up for an orgasm, so he slowed his movements.

"Wait," he whispered. "I don't want you coming yet, not like this."

The world softly blurred and suddenly they were back on the beach, the cook's legs wrapped gracefully around Zoro's neck as the incubus sensually shifted his hips into him in a slow rhythm.

Sanji's chest rose and fell quickly beneath him. "Holy shit," he cursed. "I hate you."

Zoro smirked, stretching up the cook's body so that their chests were flush, still rolling into Sanji at an easy pace. "I liked our pirate adventure, shit cook," he said as he lightly nipped the scowling cook's neck. He paused for a moment, his smile fading.

"We should have done this a long time ago," he said in all seriousness, gently stroking the inside of Sanji's wrist and remembering a time when that touch was all the cook would accept.

Sanji leaned his head against Zoro's and squeezed his eyes closed. "Don't look back," he whispered, sliding his fingertips across the softly rolling landscape of the incubus's shoulders.

They kissed again, savoring the pleasure instead of desperately taking it, each brush of their mouths pushing them ever past the line of no return.

The incubus took his time, being as thorough as possible as his hands ran over the cook's shivering legs, lifting them and tilting his lower half up. The cook whimpered as the incubus angled himself in just the right way to reach parts inside of him that he didn't know existed, parts that made his world spin while making him shamelessly sing out into the still night.

Zoro palmed Sanji's swollen cock and began pumping it, rubbing the sensitive head with his thumb and sliding the come that gathered at the tip around to enhance the sensation. Tears slid down Sanji's cheeks as the waves of pleasure from the incubus's feeding burned through his entire body like hot streams of sunlight.

The incubus could taste it on the other man. Sanji's energy was getting more and more delicious, his moans more desperate, his cock more heavy in his hand. His fist flew over Sanji's dick, rivers of precome flowing over his knuckles.

He gave a deep hum as the cook's energy drastically shifted flavors, heralding the release he couldn't hold onto for much longer. The incubus dug his knees into the mounds of soft, yielding sand and closed his eyes as he drove into him, his fingers working Sanji's dick as he drew from the most tasty, nutritious streams of energy spilling from the cook's aura.

Zoro felt himself aching to come, his cock like a dammed river about to breach its banks. Sanji reached up and grabbed a clump of his hair.

"Take me to the ship again, marimo," he said pleadingly.

Zoro nodded, hurriedly slipping into his dreams again. In an instant, wavy grids of soft light filtered over them as fish schooled in a huge, curved tank surrounding a comfortable room. The cook was on his back on a long, red set of couches hugging the walls, and they had both had shed just enough of their clothing to access each other, as if they were in a hurry. Sanji took a fleeting glance around the room, then locked eyes with Zoro.

"I can't take this any longer," he said breathlessly, encouraging the incubus's hand to move again and writhing against Zoro to make his length vanish into him.

The incubus grunted in agreement, the whole square of his hips warm with pleasure. Zoro could feel his muscles tightening in just the right ways, and he plowed himself hard into the cook's g-spot.

Sanji cried out with unexpected volume, and Zoro slapped a hand over his mouth.

"They'll hear us you idiot!" he hissed, and they both heard footsteps pounding the floor overhead.

"What the fuck kind of dream is this?" the cook said, his voice muffled under Zoro's palm.

"Hurry up and come if you don't want to get caught," the incubus urgently whispered as he surged into him, his pace all over the place. The overwhelming taste of Sanji's aura while he was this close to coming was so intense it was nearly unbearable.

His hand traveled in fluid strokes over Sanji's cock, his practiced fingers urgently rubbing around the perimeter of his head, taking advantage of its growing sensitivity. The cook slapped a hand over his mouth, trying in vain to silence himself.

Normally Zoro was very much in control of if or when he came while feeding, but Sanji's soft, muffled moans as he milked him for his climax finally sent him in an uncontrollable plummet over the edge. His muscles began to contract as he lost it, flooding deep inside of the other man as he rocked into him, releasing himself in amounts that would probably piss the cook off later if the dream matched real life.

Sanji felt the hot rush of the incubus spilling inside him and pushed one last time into Zoro's hand, moaning deeply as his come spurted out in arcs that splashed across his own shirt, the incubus's hair, and the couch.

Zoro collapsed on top of him as he let his heart rate even out. A human had just turned his limbs into rubber, and all of the incubus's previous experience and boredom with sex had just been tossed out the window.

The footsteps were getting closer.

_Zoro? Sanji?_ someone called.

"Shit!" Sanji hissed, pushing Zoro off of him. The next instant he was looking up at the night sky again, the incubus laying on top of him.

"It would have been hard to hide that we were covered in come even if we had managed to get our clothes back on in time," Zoro murmured into Sanji's hair.

"Did I mention how much I hate you?" the disgruntled cook said irritably, a subtle smile that the other man couldn't see spreading quietly across his lips.

* * *

They washed themselves in the surf, then lay sprawled on their backs on their pants and shirts, their heels sinking into the fine, silky sand as they watched the stars together. The Milky Way was a silvery cloud, a barely visible road paved with a pearly host of suns shining from incomprehensible distances away.

Smoke from Sanji's cigarette drifted over their view, a lacy wisp in the mild breeze. The cook shifted and their hands unintentionally brushed together, but neither man moved away.

"This is one hell of an afterglow, marimo," the cook began with a contented sigh, "but I feel like I've been awake for three days straight."

"Oh yeah? I feel great," Zoro gloated. "Thanks for the energy."

"Whatever," Sanji grumbled. "I'm never going to live that pirate thing down," he groaned.

"Oh, we are going to have lots of pirate adventures, cook. I particularly liked that one where the crew catches us. Are you a secret exhibitionist or something?" Zoro laughed.

Sanji's cheeks brightened while his expression darkened. "Just wait until get a hold of you. Payback's a bitch," he said sourly.

"Hmph. I can take anything you can dish out, curly brow," the incubus replied with a smug smirk.

Their bickering slowly tapered off, and they slipped into a long, comfortable silence as they lazily watched the sky.

"What would you call this?" Sanji finally asked, his voice like the gentle glow of one of the distant stars.

"Call what?" Zoro yawned.

"You know...us," the cook said.

_Us?_ The sky seemed to spin above Zoro as his breath caught in his throat. The incubus ran his tanned hand up Sanji's arm.

"You can call us whatever you want, cook. All I know is that I want to sleep in your bed. I want to eat your cooking and keep you up all night making love. I want thousands of sparring matches so I can kick your ass over and over again. But most of all, I want you to be mine, because you belong with me," he said fervently, his baritone voice dipping low into a register that rumbled through Zoro's chest and shivered across Sanji's skin.

He heard the other man swallow hard beside him. "Shit, that was not what I was expecting from you," the cook replied, shaken.

"What were you expecting?" Zoro asked.

"Not practically a marriage proposal," Sanji said with a little more volume.

"I'm serious, but not that serious, idiot. So, are you in?" the incubus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think how serious we get depends on whatever plan you said you'd come up with about you feeding that would make us both happy," the cook replied, furrowing his brow.

Zoro sighed. "Yeah, I haven't forgotten. I have a compromise," he said through gritted teeth.

"What's that?" Sanji asked expectantly.

"Choose my donors. Tell me who would piss you off the least if I fed from them. If that's no one, then I'll just be hungry until you can give to me again," he said.

Sanji glared up at the stars. "I would never choose hunger for another person," he said numbly.

Zoro held a breath, not daring to move as the other man paused in deep thought.

"Law would be alright," the cook said at last.

With a soft smile on his face, Zoro sat up and flung an arm over Sanji's chest, his mouth descending upon other man. The cook's arms reached up, his fingers spreading through his soft green hair as he guided the incubus down to him. Their lips crashed together again in a smoldering swell of pure need. Sanji gasped and pushed Zoro away by nudging his shoulder before it went any further.

"I need another smoke," a flustered Sanji mumbled as he pulled away. With a fresh unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he dug around their clothes as he fruitlessly searched the sand for his lighter.

Zoro jerked and sat up as he suddenly remembered something. He rifled through his pants he had been lying on, then pulled something out of his pocket and offered it to the confused cook.

Sanji took the small, rectangular brass item in his hand and examined it. His eyes grew wide as he flipped back the cover of the antique lighter and struck it.

"Shit, this is nice. I mean really expensive nice. Where the hell did you get this?" the cook asked, his curly eyebrow pulling up.

"Souvenir from the treasury," Zoro said with a proud, lopsided grin.

"You had good taste for once," Sanji softly snorted and lit up, practically glowing.

The cook enjoyed the rest of his cigarette as his eyelids slowly became heavier and heavier. His arm fell off to the side, and Zoro plucked the smoldering cigarette out of the sleeping man's hand and put it out in the sand, then draped an arm over cook and curled around his body.

This should have been the worst week of his life.

His secret had been broadcast to the entire country. His best friend almost died. He had to go back to both Nami's and the Revolutionary Army (he was still deciding which was worse). He was pulled on stage during a drag show. He was betrayed by someone he cared about. He jumped out of a skyscraper. The list went on and on.

As Zoro began to melt into sleep, his arm possessively around his new lover, he decided that every week should be as shitty as this one.


	21. Chapter 21

Zoro awoke under the speckled shadows of a wide-leafed tree on a bed of warm sand. He gave a hearty yawn, basking in the euphoria that came from taking his fill. He stretched an arm over where the cook should have been, but his spot was empty. The incubus's eyebrows dove down. The cook should be completely exhausted from last night. Zoro had not held back.

The incubus rolled from his back into a cross legged position, giving a faint grin at just how damn good he felt with Sanji's energy swimming inside of him. He looked down the beach and saw the cook shambling over the mounds of sand now dressed in a borrowed t-shirt and dark jeans and carrying a tray of something.

As he drew closer, Zoro saw the cook's shoulders slumped in exhaustion, his pace no more than a shuffle.

"You should be sleeping," the naked incubus said as Sanji reached him.

"You're right about that. I'm so exhausted I can barely function, plus my ass is sore. It's humiliating. Thanks a lot," the cook grumbled.

"You didn't complain while it was happening," Zoro said with a shrug.

"It's hard to complain about anything when an incubus is feeding on you. You should put on some clothes," the cook replied with a hint of annoyance. He sat down in the sand next to him, placing a tray of onigiri between them.

Zoro looked down at the food and back up at Sanji for an explanation.

"I know you really don't eat, but I can't help making who I spend the night with breakfast, so get used to it," Sanji told him, looking into the distance at sparkling waves yet to come into shore.

"I'm lucky everyone was just starting to get up when I left so no one saw me heading out the door with a freaking tray of your favorite human food," he added with a frown.

"How did you know that? I hardly eat," Zoro asked, his eyes wide.

"I saw your face when you ate one of my onigiri at the Christmas party last year and I could just tell. Even if you weren't someone I liked, I can't help but remember everyone's preferences," the cook explained.

The incubus's chest filled with warmth as he reached for a perfectly formed rice ball.

The happy moment evaporated when the cook smacked his hand before he was able to pick one up. "Not until you get dressed," Sanji said sharply.

"You didn't mind me naked last night," the green-haired man mumbled, grabbing his pants and shimmying into them.

Sanji rolled his eyes. "I don't even want to think about last night right now. It kind of made me feel weird," he said.

Zoro froze In the middle of buttoning up. "What do you mean? Was something wrong?" he asked swiftly, his voice tight.

"No, no, everything was good, _really_ good, it's just..." the cook trailed off, and Zoro watched the other man absentmindedly scoop up a fistful of sand and let it pour through his fingers.

"It's just that I feel a little strange having you... _inside_ me. It makes me feel like a lady," the cook sighed, dusting his hands off and lighting a cigarette with the antique brass lighter Zoro gave him.

"Top next time if you're going to get hung up about it," the incubus offered. "I can always tell if someone's a lady or not after that," he said with a sly grin.

"All right, wise guy. I think I'll feel better if we start trading out," Sanji said, nodding. He studied Zoro thoughtfully. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much. It's kind of creepy," he teased.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this sappy, cook. It's kind of pathetic," the incubus countered, his eyes flickering with a metallic gleam.

"Whatever. I can't believe I'm with you," Sanji said with mock irritation.

"Believe it. Your body certainly does," Zoro murmured as he crawled over and straddled the cook's lap, breathing in the cocktail of his hormones that spoke to his approval. "How about a quickie? You top. No energy taking," he whispered.

"Bastard," Sanji breathed out shakily as his fingers ran down the scar slashing across Zoro's bare chest.

As Zoro leaned in to kiss him, he suddenly fell forward as Sanji flew out from underneath of him.

"Oh hey, Luffy!" the cook said loudly, his face beet red.

Zoro looked behind him to see his roommate grinning nervously while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hey! I know you said you'd kill me if I ever interrupted you like this again, but there's something really crazy that just started going on at the palace. Torao wants to talk to you right away," Luffy explained.

"What is it?" the incubus asked.

Luffy shrugged. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me until I got you. Something about me being useless if he did?" he said with a yawn, shrugging again.

Zoro and Sanji exchanged a look, and the incubus quickly put on his shirt, grabbed an onigiri, and proceeded to walk with purpose - in the opposite direction.

Sanji jogged after him and grabbed his collar, yanking him around to face the right way.

"You're lucky I forgot about this part of you last night. It's almost a deal breaker," the cook said with an exasperated sigh.

* * *

When the trio returned to the beach house, Law's grim-looking crew was spread across the kitchen and living room with an array of laptops and equipment. Law was seated at the kitchen table, looking especially disgruntled as he hovered over his own computer. His steely eyes zeroed in on them as they entered.

"Roronoa-ya," the tattooed man said, motioning him to sit next to him.

Zoro pulled out a chair and joined him. His heart jumped as he saw the black window of a video file on Law's screen.

"Fifteen minutes ago, there was a press conference responding to our visit to the palace. I skipped to the most interesting part," Law explained cryptically, pressing play.

The video sprung to life, showing a previously live shot filmed by a news station focused on the black-clad man in a top hat that Zoro had sworn to usurp.

_"To prevent future attempts on my life and the lives of my officials, I have been given no choice but to punish those involved, and to call on Emerald Prince Roronoa to turn himself in."_

The camera panned from the podium that Lucci was speaking from to the view of the crowd of high-ranking incubi and succubi that made up the Parliament that had been gathered in the manicured gardens of the palace's massive inner courtyard. A line of ragged-looking palace servants were being led down the center aisle towards Lucci.

_"Roronoa, if you are watching, these are servants who assisted you when you murdered Donquixote Doflamingo and bombed the palace. It is my duty to punish them, unless you would like to come and accept punishment for them."_

"Those are the people who stayed at the palace because they were too scared to escape with Sabo and Koala!" Luffy exclaimed.

They watched as Lucci stepped down to the first in the line of what looked like a hundred or more servants and slaves. The middle-aged man cowered in fear as Lucci drew near, rolling up his shirt sleeves as his shadow passed over the servant. A hazy, glowing spike similar to Zoro's energy swords grew from his index finger. The human was on his knees, begging now.

Lucci stabbed his finger into the man's chest, piercing his heart and killing him instantly. Screams arose from the servants watching behind them. The unfeeling monarch casually wiped his finger on a handkerchief as he returned to the podium.

_"I will be carrying out punishment on one of these humans every four hours unless former Prince Roronoa turns himself in at the palace."_

The video ended. The kitchen was absolutely silent.

"This must be the trap that we can't help walking into," Zoro said in a soft growl like a wolf's warning, his eyes flaring like coals.

"We've got to do something, marimo! There were ladies in there!" Sanji said passionately, jabbing a finger at the laptop.

"I'm going to make him pay for this!" Luffy yelled, his body slightly steaming as his blood rushed swiftly through his veins.

"What trap?" Law demanded.

Sanji dragged a hand roughly through his hair. "When we were escaping the Germa, the police captain and that pretty lieutenant who had arrested us back at the Baratie found us. They decided not to take us in, and Smoker told us about a trap," the cook said as he took out his cigarette pack and raised it as met Law's eyes. The tattooed man nodded permissively.

Zoro unfolded the slip of paper with the mysterious phone number on it. "Smoker gave me this. Said that this person at the palace would help us. He basically said that we would die without their help," he told them.

"Who are they?" Law asked.

The incubus shrugged. "No clue."

The dark-haired man let out a heavy breath. "Just great," he sighed.

Zoro clutched onto the worn piece of paper, the scent of the cook's cigarette smoke spilling soothingly over him. "I'm calling," he said decisively.

Sanji already had his cell phone out and handed it to the incubus.

"Don't give him any information about our whereabouts, or if we are coming at all," Law warned.

Zoro carefully dialed the number, then put it on speakerphone so they could all hear.

_"Hello?"_ a light voice tentatively answered.

"I heard from your pal Smoker you wanted to talk to me," Zoro said bluntly, his tone still freshly bitter from viewing the video. He heard the man on the other end of the line suck in a sharp breath.

_"I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time now. We have to hurry if we are going to save lives,"_ the voice urged.

"What makes you think I want to get involved?"

_"Your choice of successor, for one. Word has spread that you plan to crown a human King, Roronoa. Lucci certainly knows about it, and knows that you'll try to stop him. Even humans on the street know that you are going to come to the rescue. Did you know they broadcasted that press conference on the big ad screens downtown? There is practically a riot going on, and they are chanting your name!"_

"What?!" Zoro spat, bewildered. Were people really desperate enough to beg for someone that had been publicly denounced as an criminal and murderer to come save them?

_"It's true,"_ the man on the other end of the line assured. _"I know of a trap that could mean your deaths and the deaths of all of the people you are trying to protect,"_ he said.

"What trap? How do you know this?" Zoro asked.

_"I work at the palace, and I overheard a conversation I wasn't supposed to. I want to tell you the details in person."_

"This sounds like a trap," the incubus muttered. "But I have no choice."

_"Very well. Where should we meet?"_

Law leaned in to interrupt. "Be at pier 41 at the Sabaody dock in 30 minutes. Come alone or else," he said darkly.

_"Agreed,"_ the man said nervously.

"30 minutes or we leave," Law repeated.

They ended the call, and Zoro passed the phone back to Sanji.

"What if it's a trap?" the cook asked uneasily.

"If it's a trap," Luffy began, cracking his knuckles, "we kick their asses!"

* * *

Law immediately ordered his men into the submarine, but it was apparent that there was no need to prompt them. Everyone was already hurrying, falling back on their years of experience outfitting the boat and executing missions under their captain to work as quickly as possible.

Zoro ran upstairs and grabbed the swords he had taken from the treasury and slipped them into his green haramaki. Sanji raised a spiral eyebrow upon seeing them, but the mood was too somber to poke fun at the incubus at the moment.

Within minutes they were loaded onto the ship and were gliding underneath the water's surface. Bepo navigated them just into the mouth of the docks and killed the engine. Law grabbed the handles of his periscope and carefully observed the surface.

"I see him," he said.

Luffy sidled up next to him, his hand in a bag of potato chips, repeatedly stuffing them in his mouth with loud crunching noises.

"Oi! Let me see, Torao. I wanna see," he said as he munched, not even slowing the unceasing stream of chips into his mouth.

Law clenched his teeth as he tried to concentrate, ignoring the other man.

"Think you can do it, boss, or do you need to be closer?" Penguin asked.

"I can do it," the tattooed man replied, and the bubble of his Room flared out from his extended hand.

Luffy squeezed himself right next the the captain's face, crunching on chip after chip as he tried to look into the lens until Law's personal space was zero.

"Get out of my face, Luffy-ya, or I'm taking that bag away," he warned.

"But it's Super Bacon Cheese Ranch Explosion flavor! Come on, I wanna see," Luffy said insistently.

Law let out a slow breath, then lifted his fingers and rotated them. _"Shambles,"_ he muttered, then took a step back.

The chips disappeared, and in their place a person fell into Luffy's ranch dust-covered arms. On the pier, a lone chip bag drifted to the ground where the man had once stood.

Zoro blinked, his eyes widening in recognition. He had seen this lavender-haired person before on television.

The short, scrawny man stood up, groaning. Luffy was on his feet too, desperately searching for his chips as he ignored the newcomer entirely.

"Oi, Torao, where are they?!" Luffy begged. The tattooed man rolled his eyes.

The young man started to nervously sweat as he took in his new surroundings, and Law firmly gestured towards the table in the kitchen. It was not a suggestion.

"Get us out of here, Bepo. Open water," the tattooed man ordered.

"Aye aye, captain!" Bepo replied with a salute.

The incubus stared openly at the young man as they all sat down. "I know you. You're the new member of Parliament," he said.

"Yes. I'm Coby," he said, reaching over to shake Zoro's hand. "I've heard so much about you, Emerald Prince!"

"Like what?" the incubus asked.

"Like about you choosing a human as your successor! Who is it? It must be you, right?" Coby said, gesturing at Sanji. "You guys are sitting so close, you must be really great friends!"

Sanji got up, fuming. "I'm only sitting close to you because there's hardly any room on this bench with your fat ass spreading out!" he snapped at Zoro, the incubus's new favorite shade of red sweeping across the cook's face.

"As if I'd make someone as annoying as you my successor! And the only thing you wish I was spreading-"

Coby put his hands up defensively, interrupting. "I'm so sorry! It must be you, then?" he turned to Law.

"I've longed to be King in the past, but I'm afraid it's that idiot over there," he said blandly, cocking a thumb at Luffy rummaging through the cupboards for snacks.

Coby's mouth gaped open in stark shock. "This is… this…"

Luffy turned around, orange cheese crumbs all over his face. "Oh hey, you must be the guy! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be the next King! Nice to meet cha!" he laughed.

"The kingdom is doomed," Coby squeaked, throwing his head down on the table.

"Torao! Do we have any snack cakes?" Luffy called out, resuming his crawl through the kitchen cupboards.

"No. Get over here and help us plan this thing. There are people dying, remember?" Law growled.

Luffy dropped the can of beef stew he was holding, facing away. "I know. That's why I need your help. Get me there, and I will kick their asses. Until then, I need to load up on the energy to be able to do it. I'm counting on you!"

Law's grey eyes carefully studied the dark-haired man, then he nodded. "Fine, but listen while you eat. Down to business. Tell us about this trap," he said evenly as he turned to the official.

Coby gravely nodded, his hands balling up into fists. "Their plan is to lure you in and have you slaughter the rest of the slaves and attack Parliament on live television!"

Zoro furrowed his brow. "They can't make me do that," he said with finality, anger creeping into his tone.

"There is one man who can," Coby said. "Donquixote Doflamingo."

A heavy shadow like a black storm cloud passed over Law's face. "Doflamingo is dead," he stated slowly and dangerously.

"They are counting on you thinking that. He's alive, I've seen him!" Coby insisted.

Law slammed his palms on the table. "That's not possible. We killed him!" he said in a sharp tone that made his crew cringe at their stations.

"I saw him, you have to believe me!" the lavender-haired man pleaded.

"We don't have time for this. There's an easy way to figure this out," the incubus said as he rose from the booth. He unfurled his wings with a shudder, his eyes glowing like polished metal as he focused his powerful gaze on Coby. Gravity seemed to have more sway as Zoro began to release his power.

Coby's mouth dropped open in total shock, his round eyes glued to the incubus.

Law instantly twisted his whole body to look away from him, scowling as he crossed his arms to his chest as tightly as a straight jacket as if to hold himself down.

Sanji trembled in his seat, totally blindsided by the surge of incubus energy next to him. Right now, Zoro was so damn hot that it was painful, and it didn't help that all the mental walls that the cook had in place earlier this week to resist him had been completely destroyed as of last night. He wanted to touch his skin and feel his firm chest through his shirt, to run his hands across his sleek wings as he stared into his eyes that softened to the sheen of pearls as their bodies rocked together. It didn't matter if he was bottom or top, if people were there or not. He wanted Zoro, and he needed him right now.

He found himself on his feet, reaching out to the incubus.

Zoro gritted his teeth and gave a deliberate blink, freeing Sanji from the magic, but the cook's momentum deposited him right into the incubus's chest as the others looked on.

He wrapped an arm around Sanji's shoulders to steady him. "I had a hunch you might be less resistant to this now," he whispered, his breath brushing past the other man's ear.

A flying leg knocked him back, and only a flap of his wings kept him on his feet.

"Get the hell off me, shitty marimo! You need to warn us if you're going to do this sort of thing!" the cook yelled, his eye still devouring Zoro's unglamoured body as his sexual energy softly hummed like a purring house cat.

The incubus took a second glance at the cook's aura, and he was surprised to find that what he had drained from him last night had nearly been replaced. With Sanji's insane libido, he might just might be able to feed from him alone.

The incubus shrugged. "What's the big deal? I guarantee everyone already knows we're-"

Another, harder kick shut him up.

Zoro sighed, then turned back to Coby with an unnaturally piercing stare.

"You can't lie to me right now. Are you telling the truth?" the incubus asked, his resonant voice unsettling and lyrical, and he could see his own power weaving around the young man, suggestively winding around each limb and creeping up bit by bit until he could see the flickers of his target's sexual energy ignite across his aura. There was nothing that Coby could hide from him now.

"Yes. It's all true," the young man said in trancelike monotone, trapped by Zoro's stare.

The incubus nodded, and his image rippled as his mundane glamour dropped back into place. He flopped unceremoniously down at the table next to a fuming Sanji.

Coby blinked and rubbed his eyes. "I'll never get used to that," he muttered.

"So how do we do this? I'm with Luffy on this one. Just point me in the right direction and I'll kick Lucci's ass," Zoro said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"I don't care what you do, I'm finishing the job Luffy started with Doflamingo," Law said explosively.

"If you just run in there, he's got you!" Coby replied even more emphatically, raising his voice.

"Oi, we'll just kick his ass again!" Luffy chimed in from his seated position in front of the open refrigerator door.

"Doflamingo is mine this time!" Law snapped at him.

"He's going to be hidden! It will be too late before you find him!" Coby said, jumping to his feet.

"Everyone shut up!" Sanji shouted, slamming his foot on the table and silencing the rabble.

"First, even if someone pointed you in the right direction, you'd get lost on the way there, marimo. Second, let's harness that thirst for vengeance in a productive way, Law. Third, no one is getting out of planning this. Get the hell over here, Luffy," he ordered.

The raven-haired young man slunk to the table, wiping his hands on his shorts before taking a seat next to Law.

"They are expecting us so it will almost be impossible to come at it with the element of surprise. So we do the unexpected. I don't care how any of you feel about it, we are enlisting the help of the Revolutionary Army that I'm sure is ready to go to war. We call in every friend we can. We win the hearts of the people chanting your name. And yes, we kick all of their asses and make Luffy King. So here's the plan," the cook said, his leg still heroically perched on the table.

As Sanji the tactician spoke, weaving together an inventive plan of action, Zoro couldn't help but think that this side of him was a big part of the reason he had fallen for him. That the advice he had given him this week had shown him a surprising side of his infuriating coworker that he'd never seen before. That the cook's utter confidence and intelligence that made Zoro admire him as his advisor planted the seeds that made him desire him for a lover. Those seeds were blossoming right now as the incubus stared at Sanji as he spoke, his words and mannerisms making him feel warmth in the center of his chest. Why the hell hadn't he seen this in the cook before this week?

They ironed out the details of the plan as quickly as they could, as time was of the essence and the longer they took, the more innocent lives were in danger.


	22. Chapter 22

It was time. Lucci had just finished delivering his second speech, and he descended efficiently off of the podium which stood in the center of the courtyard garden. The crowd of incubi and succubi which composed Parliament sat in rows of folding chairs on the lawn. The arrangement looked more befitting for a celebration than an execution.

_"Let the record show that Roronoa didn't care enough about the people he wants to call his subjects to show himself,"_ Lucci had broadcast to the vast majority of the kingdom watching him on television.

The garden's flowers nodded their ruffled heads as a strange, cold rush of air swooped in, preceding dark clouds looming in the distance.

He approached his next victim, a young woman, pale and shaking.

Without a shred of emotion, he clad his finger in deadly incubus energy as his shadow fell over her.

"Please no," she squeaked, her face streaked with tears.

The feed for the news that was projecting on a screen behind the podium popped loudly as static snow covered the image of Lucci. All turned their heads as a cute, blue-eyed girl with a pink hat appeared in his place.

"Hello everybody! Are you ready for a revolution?!" she shouted with excitement. Behind her an unused green screen blanketed one wall and several security guards were tied and gagged on the floor.

Even those in the palace courtyard could hear the cheers from downtown.

"Tonight those who tell us that we are under them don't get to choose our fates anymore! We refuse to watch people be slaughtered any longer. If you are willing to risk your life to change this Kingdom, then meet the Revolutionary Army at the front gates of the palace," she said, and the video feed faded to black.

Lucci's shoulders visibly stiffened, and his onyx eyes filled with poison as the glow surrounding his finger winked out.

"Jabra, Blueno, go to the television station. Kill all humans in the building," he ordered, slowly and precisely.

"The rest of you go to the gates. I want that rebellion put down by any means necessary," Lucci told Kaku and the rest of his personal guard. He watched his underlings scatter, then walked with purpose into the palace.

* * *

The Polar Tang lurked below the water's surface near the palace island, waiting for the signal to surface. Sanji sat in relative solitude on the edge of the bed below deck, enjoying one last cigarette before playing his part in their plan.

Zoro stepped into the room, mutely watching Sanji stare off into the distance, engrossed by his own thoughts. The incubus sat next to him, the bed shifting as his weight was added.

The cook raised his head to meet the other man's eyes. Neither man's expression changed much as they sat searching each other's faces for a long while.

Sanji fell into Zoro, stealing a soft kiss from his lips. The incubus's hand snaked through his hair and pulled him closer. This kiss was fleeting, its intensity pouring out like a summer rain then evaporating just as quickly.

The tempo of their breaths wound down as Sanji pushed the incubus away.

"Don't fuck this up, marimo," he said numbly.

"Do you trust me?" Zoro asked.

"The last two times you've asked me that you've gotten into my pants," Sanji growled, chomping down on a fresh cigarette he put between his teeth.

"I wouldn't fuck up a chance for number three, cook," the incubus said with a weak smile.

Before Sanji could reply, a staticy voice came across their walkie talkies.

_"We've arrived at the gates. Good luck, guys,"_ Sabo said. They could hear commotion in the background.

The two men exchanged a look, then ascended from the bedroom to find Law finishing giving orders to his team. The tattooed man acknowledged Zoro and Sanji with a nod.

"Are you ready?" Law asked expectantly.

"I'm ready to finish this," Zoro nodded in kind, his hand balled up tightly into a hammer of a fist.

The sub surfaced next to a steep side of the palace, a side where the building was so close to the water it seemed to emerge from the sea. They stood on deck, waiting as Law got his bearings.

"It's this tower?" Luffy asked, scratching his head.

"Yes. Penguin calculated that this would be the least inhabited entry point in the entire palace right now," Law replied as he squinted at the formidable tower above them.

"Are you going to teleport us in there?" the younger man asked.

"No. Unlike you, I have to conserve every bit of my strength if I want to use my Devil Fruit power to fight Doflamingo. We're going to be climbing," Law said, pulling cords of neatly folded climbing ropes from a duffel bag.

Luffy grimaced and scratched his head. "That'll take too long," he complained.

With that, he snaked one arm around the other men, while his free arm shot up towards the tower.

"No, no, no, Luffy!" the horrified incubus shouted, having seen this trick too many times in the years spent with his roommate.

The confused expressions on the others' faces turned to pure panic as Luffy snapped his arm taut, then launched them up to the top window of the tower. Zoro's lips flapped in the wind, his face contorted from the sudden G-forces. Luffy dove through the window, shattering the wavy panes of leaded glass and dumping his unhappy parcels in the middle of the stone room.

The three men rolled to a stop, their clothes now studded with a few shards of glass and covered with the thick dust that blanketed every surface of the space. Zoro groaned as he sat up, allowing himself a look around the tower while Sanji repeatedly stomped on Luffy.

The dark, round room looked like it had been untouched since his family had occupied the palace. The furniture was sparse but fine in quality, the rich colors muted by years of dust buildup and cobwebs. His eyes flew open as they landed on a large wooden dollhouse that had been pulled into the center of a beautifully patterned carpet.

While the others argued, he took a hesitant step towards it, and then another, until everything around him became a blur except for the dollhouse, fashioned to looked like the palace.

His fingers traced a trail through the dust on the turrets as he moved to the other side of it. In the one of the rooms, a single, tiny doll lay lifeless on its back clutching a miniature wooden sword, its white wings meticulously stitched to match its former owner.

He was lucky that none of the others could read his aura with its violent, crimson light cutting through the darkness like a demonic beacon. Zoro's dark eyes filled with the metallic hue of poisonous mercury, and he swore that even though he was planning on ruling for less than a day, it would be a day stained with the blood he knew he would have to draw in Luffy's place.

* * *

They descended from the room on the solid steps of a spiral staircase in silence. The stairwell opened up into a lavish hallway so wide you could drive a bus through it. Law held up his hand, motioning everyone to stop.

"This is where we split up," he said in a tone that left no room for argument.

"I'm coming with you," Luffy replied stubbornly.

"Don't be stupid. I'm going to defeat Doflamingo alone. We agreed you would fight Lucci with Zoro," Law told him with a scowl.

"I can do what I want. We'll beat Mingo first, then Lucci," Luffy said, stomping his foot.

"Then just hurry up and go beat him, idiot," Zoro said with a resigned sigh, crossing his arms.

Luffy grinned and gave the incubus a dramatic thumbs up.

"Let's go, Torao," he chirped.

Law gave the incubus a hard look, but nodded and took off.

Zoro started off in the opposite direction, Sanji following. Their footfalls pounded out a steady cadence as they jogged over the marble floor.

"Are you sure it was smart to let him go like that? That wasn't part of the plan," Sanji said warily.

"It would be a waste of time trying to change his mind. He's as stubborn as you are. Besides, it works out better this way," Zoro said. He stole a glance over his shoulder at the cook as they ran, his eyes like a storm at sunset under a furrowed brow.

Sanji's pace slowed to a stop, his hands slipping into his jacket pockets.

"Wait. How the hell did a directionless idiot like you get in front of me? Come on, it's this way," the cook said, nudging his head in the opposite direction.

Time seemed to crawl as the incubus turned to face him.

"What's your problem? Let's go, I hear a crowd this way," Sanji urged with a deepening frown. He lifted a spiral eyebrow as his blue eye roamed over Zoro's face.

The incubus abruptly pulled the other man to him by his arm and delivered a warm, demanding kiss to his lips. The cook drew in an audible breath through his nose, but matched the incubus's gentle intensity with little hesitation.

"You've done something to me," the incubus whispered as he ended the onslaught, threading his fingers gently through streams of blond.

"We don't have time for this. Get your head in the game," Sanji replied angrily.

"I intend to," Zoro said numbly. "I'm sorry," he said, and with a shudder of his shoulders his glossy raven wings materialized.

Sanji's lips parted in surprise and desire as the incubus captured him by the small of his back and pulled him close, consuming him with those pearl grey eyes which made the cook want to offer both body and soul to him.

"Thank you for everything. I've survived up to now because of your insight, and I've gotten this far because you made me give a shit about something again. But this is a part of my journey where you can't follow," the incubus said, his lips finding the tender cradle of Sanji's mouth again.

"No," the cook managed to choke through the veil of Zoro's glamour. "Don't you dare, you fucking...self-centered…"

"It's time to sleep," Zoro compelled him with his irresistible power, and Sanji collapsed into his arms. "You'll have to forgive me later, cook. This is something I have to do alone."

He carried Sanji to an empty bedroom off of the hallway and gently laid him on the bed. With a last glance at his lover's sleeping form, he swept out of the room to his fated battle.

* * *

"How are we going to find Mingo, Torao?" Luffy asked for about the twentieth time as he scuffed his feet on the floor.

"Will you be quiet?! He's probably already sensed I'm here. When an incubus has tasted your energy so much, they tend to recognize it when you get near. I don't know if that will be enough to bring him out of hiding," Law said, rubbing the back of his neck.

He heard Luffy suck in a mouthful of air beside him.

"Luffy, no!" Law shouted, making a dive for the smaller man. But Luffy was too fast, leaping over his arms.

"MINGO!" he screamed with all of his might. The echoes rang out like a fanfare of trumpets through the hard-surfaced, oversized hallways.

"Damn it, do you want to call them all to us?!" Law yelled at him.

"See, this is why we're great together. I can help you when you can't do it yourself," Luffy said with a cheesy grin.

Law slapped his palm over his own face and repeatedly shook his head, his fingers shaking ever so slightly. "You piss me off so fucking badly, Luffy, but somehow I keep coming back for more. What the hell is wrong with me?" he said hopelessly, his tone descending into muttering.

The words had just fallen from his mouth when a deep, contemptuous laugh flooded through the hall, chilling the tattooed man's blood. Law spun around to face the source of the sound.

"Your disobedience isn't as amusing this time around, Law," Doflamingo said, a terrible sneer replacing his normally ceaseless smile as he stepped into the light.

"I don't know how you survived, but I'm going to finish the job," Law growled as he quickly unsheathed his sword.

"And I'm going to help! You're not getting a chance to mess with Zoro!" Luffy shouted.

Doflamingo issued another deep peal of mocking laughter.

"What makes you think I care about your fallen Prince? If Lucci fails, it's because he wasn't strong enough to make his vision a reality. I only do what benefits me, and right now that's picking off the victor of that fight and becoming King," he said, his curled grin falling into a stern frown again.

"And killing both of you," he added with dark satisfaction.

White spikes exploded from the floor and twisted around Luffy, ramming him through the tall stone ceiling. The spike that emerged under Law strategically knocked the sword from his hand, and he dove to grab it again. Doflamingo's strings captured his limbs and held him in midair. The incubus kicked Law's sword away as he leisurely approached.

"This was too easy, Law," Doflamingo said as his wings spread out. "That's why incubi deserve to rule. We were born smarter and stronger."

Law's eyes flew open as the familiar energy of Doflamingo's aura washed over him.

"Yes, Law. Do you remember this?" he said with nauseating eagerness as he pulled down the neck of Law's shirt to reveal the twisting tattoos on his chest.

"Whether you like it or not, your body still responds to me," the incubus said as he ripped his shirt down the front. He began to kiss the human's neck, and Law could begin to feel his energy pulling into his hated enemy. The tattooed man squeezed his eyes shut, grasping at the pink feathers of Doflamingo's coat.

"Though I wonder, why do you have the scent of that Anathema all over you?" the incubus asked, the breath of his mocking voice sinking into the skin of the human's neck.

Law's eyes flashed open, his teeth audibly gritting together.

"I know why. You're a predator, just like the incubi you despise. But neither of us cares much about sex, only forcing others to submit to our wills. Somebody like him is a challenge, isn't that right, Law?"

"I'm...not like you…" the dark-haired man said brokenly.

"You're right. You're weak," Doflamingo growled as he squeezed his hand around Law's throat.

_"Shambles,"_ Law whispered, and the pink feather clutched in his hand suddenly became the sword Kikoku.

He clutched onto the hilt and slashed the incubus's bicep, causing him to jump back with supernatural speed.

Law climbed to his feet, holding his sword in front of his exposed chest. "I've been selling energy every chance I got since I've left here to train my resistance for this moment. You no longer have power over me, Doflamingo!" he yelled.

Luffy dropped like a stretchy lemur from the hole in the ceiling, covered in the dust from the rubble he had just crawled out of. He landed on the floor in a crouch, and his head snapped up to Doflamingo, the firestorm in his serious eyes almost enough to singe the incubus.

"You're never touching Torao like that again," he said.

* * *

An angry mob had gathered at the palace per Koala's instructions, their voices a chaotic choir as they worked to tear the gates down.

Feverish shouts rose from the palace guard, and the heavy timbers of the drawbridge rose with the clink of iron chains. The long-oppressed crowd shook the thick metal gates in front of them in frustration as they watched their path to the palace rise out of view, the bars just another cage to keep them in their place and out of their incubus and succubus rulers' domain.

Through the mass of people, several figures quietly walked to the front. People parted before them as they glided through the crowd. A blond man in a long, blue coat effortlessly hopped onto one of the stone pillars supporting the gate. The people fell into silence.

"Thank you all for coming," Sabo began from his perch. "Ahead lies a battle for all humans of this kingdom, and if we win, our lives are going to change forever. Right now as we speak, Prince Roronoa Zoro is headed to fight Lucci. As you might have heard, he intends to put a human on the throne. If you feel that's a future worth risking your life for, follow us through those gates!" he shouted, then squatted on the parapet. With a few precise knocks, the pillar underneath him broke into chunks in a spray of dust, causing the now unsupported gate to lean, and then fall into the waves below.

Space was cleared as orange and white clad Inazuma snipped up the ground with his giant Devil Fruit shears and snapped the piece like a fresh blanket over a bed until it connected with the other side. He silently motioned for the others to follow, then led the charge across the makeshift bridge.

_"Death Wink!"_ Ivan shouted from beside him as he batted an eye, and the raised drawbridge blocking their way shattered into pieces in a flying shockwave blast. 

Flames licked away the floating splinters as the crowd poured through the gates. 

As Inazuma ran, he grabbed a walkie talkie from his coat pocket. "We are through the gates. What are we going to run into?" he asked. 

Amid the distracted, pacing members of Parliament gathered in the courtyard, the newest electee stealthily palmed his own device to his ear. 

_"Most of Parliament is still in the courtyard. Kaku is on his way towards you. Lucci is missing. No one knows where he went, so be careful,"_ Coby whispered. 

Huge stone blocks pushed by the guards above began to rain down on the invaders, making heavy craters in the ground as the crowd streamed around them in confused rivers. 

Large, elegant hands appeared, catching the onslaught in their palms. 

"Thanks, Robin!" Sabo called back, waving the long pipe he fought with. 

The former office manager to the Baratie titled her head, giving the Revolutionary an enigmatic smile as she held her crossed hands to her chest. 

* * *

The glint of gold sparkled all around him in the maze of halls as a very lost Zoro hunted deeper in the palace for Lucci, everywhere stumbling upon territory that seemed very familiar to him. He recalled that this overwhelming opulence must have been the same when he was a child, but back then through his youthful eyes, even the most expensive gold and jewels were just objects meant to be touched and played with, much to his parent's dismay. 

More hazy memories seemed to seep from the walls around each bend, and no matter how fast Zoro ran they followed. He could still clearly remember the confident, smart-ass tone Kuina used when they were alone, echoing through thick layers of the years he had spent without her. 

_"You're a wimp, Zoro. But as long as one us becomes ruler one day, it will be ok,"_ she had told him. 

They were in the garden, in the cool air under a cloud-ringed moon. Sweaty clothes stuck to their bodies, and three live steel swords lay in the grass. Zoro lay there too, nursing cuts and scrapes to his body as well as his ego. 

Perhaps even then Kuina knew she would never be Queen, because she had inexplicably began to cry. 

_"Idiot, we're both in line for the throne,"_ Zoro replied in a mumble, looking away to hide his trembling lip. 

_"Promise me. One of us is going to become ruler,"_ Kuina said resolutely. With a gentle rustle, she released her ivory wings which had been hidden by glamour for their fight. Zoro did the same, the necessity of the confining enchantment over for the moment. 

_"Fine,"_ he sighed, offering her his pinky. _"I promise."_

Their fingers clasped. She was warm. Strong. 

_"I promise."_

He gripped the hilts of his swords as a blazing signature of power suddenly drew him away from his memories, winding its way through the labyrinth of halls in a trajectory towards him. He drew two of his swords, and the pair felt alive and eager in his hands. 

A black clad man appeared at the end of the hall, his emotionless eyes scouring Zoro like the cruel bite of bitter frost. 

"Ever since we couldn't find your body, I knew you'd be back, Roronoa," Lucci said, his pace unwavering as he walked steadily towards him. 

"If you hadn't hunted me, I'd be washing dishes right now instead of taking back the throne," Zoro replied without emotion. 

The corner of Lucci's mouth twitched. "Which you plan to pass right off to those of inferior blood. I see your father has imparted his disgusting love of humans to you," the other incubus said, his lip subtly curling. 

"What's disgusting is how you took the peaceful kingdom he built and twisted it into a place that's ruled by fear and hatred," Zoro said, and he could feel his heart accelerating as he remembered Sanji's reaction to finding out what he was. Who could blame the cook for hating incubi? The day before, an incubus had just legally come into his restaurant and started to feed on him, and he was arrested for fighting back. This was the kingdom Lucci had made. 

"Peaceful? Your father's rule was spineless, not peaceful. With one hand your father offered the humans peace, and with the other he kept them as slaves. My rule is authentic. I don't offer anything I don't plan to carry out in full. Fear is merely a powerful motivator. We both know who the superior being is, the one deserving of governing the other, and it's not a human. You're welcome to hold onto your family's half-baked fantasies of peace. Just like their ideals, your foolish dreams will never become reality. Only a memory," Lucci said frigidly, his bearing all the more deadly in its calm. 

"I promised a memory that I would become King. I'm tired of listening to someone who plotted to kill my family, so I'll be kicking your ass now," Zoro said, his muscles readying as he crouched into a fighting stance. 

Lucci gave a dry chuckle. "Plotted? Is that what you think?" 

The fabric of his clothing twisted and creaked as his shoulders widened and his muscles swelled and ripped the expensive cloth of his suit. 

"After all of these years, you really haven't figured it out? How stupid can you be?" Lucci's mouth twisted up in glee, a sick smile that a man who only enjoys killing gets when he's found a new mark. 

Zoro's eyes were like two round, silver pearls as he watched Lucci's Devil Fruit Power distort his body into a hulking leopardlike form. His scar began to burn and tingle across his chest, and he could feel the memory of hot blood pour down the front of his body. 

His flesh remembered those ripping claws, the same ones that tore the life from his parents and sister. 

The ones that tormented his nightmares and caused him to wake screaming. 

The ones that had forced him to wander the streets, cold and hungry. 

A flash of a white katana gleamed like pure starlight as it sprang from its sheath. The trio of swords sang through the air, keen with their master's bloodlust he charged his enemy. 


	23. Chapter 23

Zoro's slash cut empty air with a low whistle as Lucci vanished. He barely had enough time to contemplate the lack of arch nemesis in front of him when a blur of movement lunged at him from behind.

He gathered his aura in a last-minute shield of energy to absorb some of the blow of the scything kick, but it wasn't nearly enough, and he was flung through a heavy hallway table into the wall, knocking down a massive portrait of his grandfather on top of him.

"Pathetic," Lucci said as he walked over, unhurried. His soot-colored wings appeared, looming behind him as he stretched them out, making him look like some kind of ancient flying beast from legend. It was a move only the confident would perform in battle, as it exposed the delicate wings to damage and hindered some movement. It was also a move that would give him access to his full incubus power.

Zoro exploded through the canvas in a triangle of flying slashes which streaked from his katanas and caught Lucci across the thigh. He rushed the other man as he staggered back from the blow, but his foe disappeared in a blink yet again.

"Your sister put up a better fight," Lucci said from behind him.

White hot pain tore through Zoro's shoulder like an ice pick into his flesh, and he ducked just in time to avoid Lucci's bloody index finger a second time.

Zoro deftly flipped his swords backwards in his hands and jabbed behind him, hitting something satisfyingly solid. He rolled to his feet.

"Never talk about my sister again," he whispered, his face dipping into shadow.

Lucci clutched his midsection as blood oozed from between his fingers. "Your sister was weak, just like you. And the weak don't deserve to live," he said darkly, his spotted tail sharply swishing behind him.

"We'll see who's weak," Zoro said as he brandished his swords in front of him, clenching down on the starlight-colored Wado in his mouth. His heart was drumming wildly and his blood scalded his veins as he stared down his family's killer.

He sunk into a low stance, his body twisting as he wound up his energy, his swords on one side. He swung them in a powerful arc, and the whirlwind of scything cuts were accompanied by an undulating, ethereal dragon that flooded out from the steel towards the other incubus.

Lucci made no attempts to dodge. _"Iron body,"_ he said.

The glowing attack engulfed Lucci, and he took a step back to balance himself as the ghostly dragon viciously raked him with its claws and teeth while the gale of blades whipped around him. The front of Lucci's body began to smoke as if whatever shield he was using to repel the attack was faltering, but it held. Lucci smirked as the dragon dissipated.

"What's with that look, Roronoa? There is power out there that someone like you can't even comprehend. _Shave,"_ Lucci uttered, and his body flickered away into nothing.

He was instantly in front of Zoro. "Power like this."

He curled his claws like the talons of a hawk and ripped them down one side of the other man's face. Zoro dodged at the last moment but was too late to miss one claw, which slashed down through the center of his left eye.

Zoro grunted and recoiled, the momentum from his failed evasion turning into a controlled slide as he put a buffer of space between himself and his opponent. He pressed the inside of his wrist, sword still in hand, to his freely bleeding eye. Lucci leaned back and admired his gruesome handiwork, his lips curling up into a feral smile.

"There's not much more I can take away from you, Roronoa," Lucci said with quiet delight as he stalked towards him, stroking his lyre-shaped goatee.

"If that's true, then I have nothing to lose," Zoro replied as he rose to his feet, putting Wado back into his mouth. His blood cascaded over its hilt as he reached up and dropped his other swords behind the ivory blade.

_"Oni Giri!"_

With a snap of air pressure, Zoro flew past Lucci with blistering speed, delivering three heavy, devastating cuts to his opponent.

There was a long pause. Zoro heard Lucci fall to one knee behind him.

Then he felt it.

A growing sting and his shirt, hot and wet, sticking to his chest. He looked down and saw his crimson-drenched shirt torn open from shoulder to hip with a set of ragged claw marks.

Zoro felt like he was floating as he fell in slow motion. His blood poured from the gaping wound that burned like a pit of flaming coals, and he felt like if he dared to look down he would be surrounded by his family's lifeless forms yet again. His swords clanked beside him as he flopped uselessly to the marble floor.

"Like I said, Roronoa. Weak," Lucci said, limping as he covered the space between them.

"And a weakling like you will never rule," he said as he stood over him.

Zoro hoped Kuina would be waiting for him as Lucci's claws sliced down through the air.

* * *

Luffy and Law rushed Doflamingo in unison. The incubus dodged, darting backwards, but not before Luffy's punch grazed his jaw, leaving a bloody slash.

Doflamingo weaved around the pair's attacks while delivering his own in turn, his strings tearing their clothing and leaving streaks of red trails of blood on their skin. The pattern repeated with the supernaturally quick incubus evading each of their attempts to hit him.

"Luffy, wait," Law said, clapping his hands on his knees and panting. "He's just wearing us out. We need a plan."

Luffy nodded, breathing heavily himself. "Yeah, ok," he agreed.

They were forced to hop apart as a thick spike speared between them.

"Torao! What's the plan?" Luffy called across the room.

"Just fight like you did the last time! I'll give support!" Law shouted back. His eyes widened as he caught the shimmer of nearly transparent strings whipping towards Luffy.

"Dodge, you idiot!" he screamed.

"Huh?" Luffy said, blinking. He suddenly jerked to a stop mid step.

"I've finally found something you care about, Law," Doflamingo said, his deep voice causing shivers to tingle across Law's back. His strings lifted Luffy, who was caught like a fly in a spider's web. The incubus held him up in midair for Law to see.

"Oi! Let me down!" Luffy grunted as he struggled. Blood trickled from his wrists and ankles where the sharp bindings held him.

"Watch as I yet again kill everyone that means anything to you," Doflamingo said. A fibrous spear of strings grew and rose up in front of Luffy like a serpent poising to strike.

The blood drained from Law's face, and he was paralyzed where he stood, his wide gray eyes glued to the horror in front of him. Terrifying memories of long ago howled from the graves where they had been buried deep within him. It was happening all over again. Cora.

A whisper left Law's lips as the strings plunged forward.

Luffy cringed as the spike pierced its target.

Then he froze.

He felt no pain.

Splatters of blood pelted the floor with smacking sounds in front of him. His gaze swept up to find Law crumpled in the web of strings where he had just been trapped. Luffy realized he was standing in the spot Law had been moments earlier.

"Torao!" Luffy screamed, and he kicked Doflamingo aside with the heft of a charging bull to get to him, catapulting the pink-feathered man far across the large room. The strings loosened, and Luffy caught Law in his arms. His blood was hot and wet on his skin as he carried him to the ground.

"Torao!" he yelled again as he cradled the other man in his lap. Law's eyes fluttered open and focused on Luffy.

"Defeat him...become King," Law whispered, blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth. He reached up and shakily grasped Luffy's hand.

Luffy squeezed it, then guided it to Law's wound, encouraging him to apply pressure.

"Hold on. I'm going to kick his ass, then I'll save you. I promise," he said, his eyes sharp with resolve.

"Wait…" Law wheezed, and he pulled Luffy down and whispered something into his ear.

Luffy nodded, then gently laid Law on the ground and stood to a chorus of Doflamingo's deep laughter.

"I'm going to defeat you with one hit," Luffy said humorlessly as he cracked his knuckles.

* * *

Beyond the splintered palace gates, the Revolutionary Army and the rabble of citizens it led had easily pushed past the gatehouse and outer ward into the palace proper, flooding the halls in search of the lords and ladies of Parliament. Once Parliament was successfully captured and Lucci was defeated by Zoro and Luffy, the Kingdom would finally be theirs.

"This way!" Inazuma called out from the front, pointing down a wide hall. He spoke again into the walkie talkie as he ran.

A long rectangular object suddenly swung through the front line, catapulting the bodies of the invaders back.

The form rose into a tower of a yellow and brown giraffe's neck, and it would have been laughable if not for the hatred harbored like warship at port in the incubus's eyes.

"This is where you stop, humans," Kaku said without emotion.

Sabo stepped forward, orange flickers licking his fingertips. "Stop us if you can," he replied, and the ends of his pipe began to drip with flame.

They clashed in a tempest of roaring red fire and slicing blades of blue energy from swords and kicks. Inazuma snipped up the wall beside him and peeled it down, motioning for the rest of the group to enter the next hallway over to bypass the fight.

"Keep going! I'm staying with Sabo boy!" Ivankov shouted back.

Inazuma gave a sharp nod and continued running. He glanced back to assess the faces of the men behind him and saw wide eyes under furrowed brows, stony jaws and pale skin. Perhaps his own face looked the same underneath his crimson colored sunglasses. They all had a right to be worried. Their plan to capture Parliament delicately hung on the speed of which Zoro and Luffy would beat Lucci together then meet them in the courtyard. It wouldn't take long for the incubus and succubus officials to slaughter the humans without the necessary backup.

But if he had learned anything from the time he had spent with them at the island, it was that he could trust both of them with his life. With those thoughts, he kept his pace.

* * *

Zoro was awaiting Lucci's death blow when he detected the scent of smoke on the air. In an instant, the other incubus's hulking form flew into a stone wall with a deafening crash, making a deep crater. An orange glow danced on the cool marble that Zoro's cheek was lying on.

"I don't know whose ass I want to kick first," Sanji said bitterly as he stood over Zoro, his steely gaze drifting between the incubi.

"You shouldn't be here," Zoro groaned, cupping his hand over the deluge of blood streaming from his chest.

"I'll be the judge of where I should and shouldn't be," Sanji replied coldly. The incubus looked up to see the hard set lines of the cook's face tighten into a deep grimace, although his stare fell too softly on him to match the expression.

Their heads snapped up as scraping sounds issued from across the room, and they watched as Lucci peeled himself from the wall.

Zoro shuddered as he tried to push himself off the ground, but he only succeeded in reopening the wicked wound that tore across his midsection, which wasn't knitting itself together as quickly as he desperately needed.

Sanji positioned himself between Zoro and Lucci, patiently smoking a cigarette as he waited for the other incubus to free himself.

"Get the hell out of here, idiot!" Zoro yelled at the cook as Lucci brushed the dust of his battered jacket.

Sanji ignored him, his focus solely on Lucci.

The leopard appraised the human with hungry black eyes that mirrored the amused snarl of his lips.

"Do you think that this human can save you, Roronoa?" Lucci asked.

Zoro's mouth tightened, and his gaze dipped the the ground.

"Me neither. _Flying Finger Pistol."_

A spread of supersonic projectiles of invisible power shot from Lucci's finger at Sanji. The cook flipped backwards out of the way of the trajectories so accurately it caused both incubi to stare at him openly.

"What? It doesn't take a genius to assume that an attack called a "pistol" probably goes in a straight line. Just follow the finger," Sanji said with a shrug.

If he wasn't so horribly injured, Zoro probably would have been turned on.

Sanji leapt into the air, fire spiraling around his legs.

"A bland attack like that needs to be followed by a spicy dish," he said with a confident flair.

The greedy flickers of flame fanned out from the cook's kicks and rained down on Lucci.

The hulking man turned to shave away, but he was caught in the sheer size of the firestorm. He grunted and flung off the tatters of his suit that had caught fire, which exposed three deep slashes across his chest that even _Iron Body_ couldn't stop earlier.

"Damn it, get out of here! Once he heals, you don't stand a chance, dumbass!" Zoro shouted from the floor.

Sanji brought his cigarette up to his lips and took in a long draw. "Do you think I'm here because I think I can beat him?" he said, the smoke softly enveloping his words.

Zoro's eye widened as he watched the unflinching form of his lover walk out to meet the powerful incubus.

* * *

Doflamingo's mocking grin nearly covered the whole bottom half of his face.

"Oh, is that so? One hit? How ridiculous. Even if your arms could extend into infinity, you would never be able to reach me," he said.

The dark-haired young man planted his sandaled feet on the ground, bringing his hand to his mouth. He ballooned his cheeks with air and began to blow into his thumb.

Luffy's fist swelled until it was as tall as himself.

"I've already seen this one before," Doflamingo said, crossing his arms.

Luffy inflated his other fist, then pounded them together like a giant pair of boxing gloves. As he began his charge, his fists remained where he started, ready to shoot forward when the tension from Luffy's arms was just right.

As he grew close, Doflamingo darted out of the way. Luffy's fists slingshotted forward, missing the incubus and heading straight for a large pile of debris from the wrecked ceiling.

"Too slow," Doflamingo said. He stopped smirking abruptly as a whoosh of air ruffled his feathered cape and the scenery instantly changed. Behind the large fists now about to hit him, Doflamingo saw Law weakly holding up a familiar hand sign.

The pink feathered man only had time to gasp before his body was pummeled with twin fists and punched through room after room of the palace with a force that rocked the entire structure.

Luffy glared through the layers of holes he had made as he retracted his arms, searching for movement. They shrunk to normal size and length, and he ran back over to Law.

"Torao!" he screamed, but the injured man didn't respond. Luffy picked him up and draped him over his shoulder and began to run at full speed.

"We have to find Zoro. He can heal you!"

* * *

The Revolutionaries finally reached the garden courtyard, and although there was a crowd of incubi and succubi standing from their chairs to greet then, the one incubus that Inazuma needed to be there was not among them.

_Where were Zoro and Luffy?_

"Someone brought dinner!" one of the incubi cackled.

Inazuma quickly cut a section of the stone and flowers and set it up on its side in between the two factions as a barrier.

"Fall back! We'll find a new position and wait for them!" he called out to the men behind him.

A dark-haired incubus leapt over the wall with ease and wrapped his arms around the commander.

"Shh, you seem tense. Why don't I help you relax?" he offered, dragging his hands up Inazuma's body and unbuttoning his coat. Their eyes met, and his will to fight vanished. The barrier was easily pulled down, and the hungry-looking members of Parliament descended on the others.

The true nature of the incubi and succubi proved too much for the people that had been pulled from the street to fight, and soft moans were heard as their energy was being drained away and devoured.

"My, my, I was just coming to take some treasure, but this is ridiculous. Zoro is going to owe me big," a sparking female voice announced from atop the courtyard wall. Heads turned to see a fiery-haired succubus in tight jeans and a bikini top.

"I'm not even sure the whole treasury will cover what I'm about to do to you," Nami said with a playful sigh as she leaned against her long blue staff.

Her elegant, long-feathered wings ruffled open, and her potent power wove like an exotic perfume through the mass below, capturing the attention of even the most ensnared human.

"All of you belong to me now. And my order to you is that the only spell you will be under tonight will be mine. Now fight," she commanded.

She swung her staff, and lightning exploded from low clouds bubbling overhead. The members of Parliament began to fall as swift charges of electricity began to descend upon them.

Nami dropped down into the courtyard to join the fray, knowing full well that even without their foes' mesmerizing powers, this fight was probably over for the humans before it began.

* * *

Sanji managed to keep up with Lucci better than Zoro could have ever imagined. The cook was so skilled at flexibly dodging that it reached near incubus levels. If Sanji could hold out just a little longer, Zoro thought he could heal enough to be able to join him. It was possible that fighting together would give them a real chance to take Lucci down.

Sanji expertly ducked a punch, but when he looked back up at Lucci, the incubus's eyes were glowing like the velvet sheen of pure gold bullion. The cook felt the familiar heavy, inescapable grasp and warmth of desire gathering in his center. He numbly stretched a hand out to Lucci, slowly walking towards him.

"Don't look into his eyes!" Zoro yelled. He managed to shakily rise to his feet, his teeth clenching down on a howl of pain as the stumbled towards them.

"I'll show you a real kick, human," Lucci growled. His leg tore through the air in a spinning arc. _"Tempest Kick."_

A flash of blue-green light slashed into the hypnotized cook with an audible scraping of keen energy against bone.

"Dodge that," Lucci said with satisfaction.

Sanji dropped to the ground, his eyes screwing shut as he doubled over, crossing his arms desperately over an area of growing warmth soaking through his suit coat.

"I'm going to kill you!" Zoro yelled as he grabbed a katana and lunged at Lucci, but he tripped and crashed back to the floor as a rush of pain flooded through him. A pool of fresh blood spread from underneath him.

Lucci laughed softly. "I don't think so, Roronoa. That's it, then. You and your successor are finished," he said.

"My successor hasn't even gotten here yet. But when he does, you'll see what a real King looks like," Zoro said through shallow breaths.

"A real King has the Haki. Which I'm going to collect right now. Say goodbye to the era of your family's rule. Now there is no one left who can challenge me for the throne," Lucci said.

"Oi! I'm challenging you for the throne!" a voice rang out from the hall.

Zoro practically melted into the floor with relief as Luffy appeared into view, his normally gentle brown eyes shadowed under a deep, furrowed brow. Relief became concern, however, when Zoro noticed the limp form of Law slung over his back. He could smell the amount of blood even from this distance.

"Don't worry Zoro," Luffy reassured his friend, laying Law next to him.

Zoro's mouth twitched into a deep frown. The tattooed man looked bad. Real bad.

Lucci eyed the newcomer hungrily.

"I'm insulted, Roronoa. This scrawny child is your successor? He'll have you to thank for leading him to his death. You should have let him know," he said as he flared his claws out with an audible flick of his fingers, "I don't spare the weak."

"I'm kicking your ass now," Luffy said calmly, his dark eyes filling with fierce focus. He planted the ball of his foot on the marble and shot his arm out, punching Lucci through the wall, causing piles of brick and rubble to rain down upon him from the unstabilized ceiling.

Luffy spat out of the corner of his mouth.

"Get over here, Luffy. Quick," Zoro hissed.

The young man squatted next to his friend. "It's going to be ok, Zoro," he said with a weak smile on his dust-streaked face.

"No, it's not. Not without the Haki," Zoro insisted.

The incubus grabbed Luffy's wrist, yanking him down to him. Zoro didn't need to be reminded of all of the failures to pass down his birthright to his friend. It was a long shot, but it had come down to desperation. The only chance to save Sanji now was for Luffy to defeat Lucci, and quickly.

His remaining eye was trained on Sanji's fallen form as he called on the overflowing power of the Conqueror's Haki inside of him as if he were going to use it, focusing it on his palm where he had seen it emerge from his father long ago. Zoro's vision started to blur as he concentrated all of his efforts on that one point, gripping Luffy's wrist to the point of painfulness, but the delicate, silver crystal didn't emerge. Luffy grabbed his shoulder.

"It's ok. I've got this," he said with a comforting grin.

In the background, they could hear the huge blocks of debris Luffy brought down on Lucci shifting and scraping.

"Wait," Zoro hissed, grabbing the collar of Luffy's shirt as he moved to leave. As he jerked forward, the pile of his swords shifted beside him and Wado tumbled with a clatter in between them.

They both watched the ivory sword as it came to rest in front of Zoro.

"Oi, Zoro. You've always tried to give me the Haki with your hand like your dad did, right?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah," Zoro replied unsteadily. He began to drop back to the ground, his vision foggy. He wasn't sure how much longer he could maintain consciousness.

"Well, don't you put important things in your mouth?" Luffy said, eyeing the sword.

"What are you getting at?" Zoro growled.

"Your sword stuff is so strong because you put one in your mouth. Give me the Haki that way," Luffy said confidently, kneeling down in front of his friend. Before Zoro had time to protest, Luffy lifted his chin and gave him a full kiss on the lips.

Although there was no desire to consume there, Zoro began to feel the spark of his own life force open to him in a way he had never felt before. It was the buoyant sensation of floating on the ocean, of tasting the wild sea of Sanji's energy for the first time. He concentrated on that warm, soothing sensation and felt vibrating energy sing between his teeth. The strange sensation grew, suddenly buzzing with a sizzling, dissonant pitch. He flinched, roughly pushing Luffy away.

Clenched in Zoro's teeth was a ghostly sword, shadows of pearly colors flowing across the blade like streaks of sunlight underwater.

"It's not a jewel?!" Zoro exclaimed.

The incubus pulled the blade of Haki from his mouth and examined it with awe. It felt like a weightless cloud in his hand, strangely casting no shadow. He looked up and met Luffy's gaze, then slowly passed it to him.

"This belongs to you," he said reverently.

As soon as Luffy touched the sword, it sank into his skin and disappeared. He gasped, and Zoro could see twin crimson beacons come alive in his eyes.

The incubus closed his eye and collapsed with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry Zoro. I'll defeat him," Luffy promised.

"Don't think that just because you have the Haki now that it will be any more difficult for me to kill you and claim it," Lucci said, crushing imaginary kingdoms in the squeezing grasp of his clenching fists.

Lucci opened his wings and gave a harsh flap, and ribbons of blue, cutting wind danced through the air.

Luffy slapped the slashes away with a hand that was slowly darkening and hardening like sooty cast iron.

They leapt towards each other.

Zoro had a hard time keeping his eye trained on the fight, but what he saw was what he had always suspected of his friend. That Luffy would be able to tap into and harness the Haki in ways Zoro could never even conceive of.

Diamond-hard punches and kicks battered Lucci at supersonic jet speed. The incubus countered with a barrage of _Flying Finger Pistol_ shots which tore into Luffy in the middle of a leap.

Luffy shook off the pain from the blasts and went on the offensive again, quickly inflating his fist. His massive 3rd gear chased Lucci like a charging grizzly bear, but missed the fleet-footed incubus every time.

Lucci shaved in close, brutally kicking Luffy in the face and catapulting him through a stone wall.

Through the hole Luffy's body had created, Zoro could see a sliver of the flowers in the courtyard, and the scores of people trampling them in the midst of a seething battle.

The fighting in the courtyard came to a full stop. Human and incubus alike stared open-mouthed at Luffy as he rose to his feet in the dissipating veil of dust.

Lucci appeared like a ghost behind him, golden eyes piercing the smoke.

_"Kneel,"_ Lucci said, his voice curling around Luffy's body like roaming fingers. His haunting eyes found Luffy's and bored the command into them.

"No way!" Luffy said, baring his fists, shrugging off the groping energy.

The lines around Lucci's mouth deepened as his lip turned up. "You truly are Anathema. Disgusting," he said.

"I can think of worse things, like killing people who can't fight back," Luffy said pointedly, positioning himself into a fighting stance.

"Speaking of," Lucci said slyly, turning at the last moment to face the three injured men lying on the ground and raising his finger.

Luffy's arm was like a whip as he slapped Lucci down to the ground. The incubus jumped back up, and they clashed again, claws and dark Haki slamming together in sharp, staccato bursts that punctuated the combat, which was so blindingly fast that the two were nearly invisible. A tower exploded as Luffy was thrown into it at the speed of a meteor entering the atmosphere.

Zoro blinked wearily, his single eye following after his friend. Like it or not, Luffy was on his own now, and he would have to trust in him. He crawled towards Sanji, the thought of seeing dead, glassy eyes staring back at him making him tremble as he scooted himself ever closer. A tear rolled down his cheek, mingling with the drying blood.

"Oi. Cook," he choked, shaking his shoulder. The other man didn't move. His heartbeat was like a distant, mournful song. He was dying.

Zoro's eyebrows sharply dropped and he pursed his lips together. He made his decision. He spread his hand out over Sanji's wound, then he began to give him everything he had left of himself.

The leopard descended from the sky as if he were strolling down an invisible flight of stairs, coming to a hover over the collapsed tower.

"I admit this has been fun, human. But I'm getting bored. I'll be taking what is mine now," he said.

All eyes were on the tower as steam began to rise from it.

"You're wrong. The Haki was never yours. It was for Zoro to give," Luffy's strained voice echoed from the collapsed cavity.

Lucci's nose crinkled as the other man as he climbed out from the wreckage. Swirls of coal-black Haki curled across Luffy's skin like tattoos. His chest was now twice as broad as Zoro's, and he had a wild look on his furrowed face that was reminiscent of an enraged kabuki performer. He bounced in a slow rhythm like a giant rubber ball.

Luffy began to wind his arm up into itself, stretching sounds emanating from his flesh as if it were a giant ballista being cranked.

"If you think whatever absurd thing you're doing right now is going to defeat me, you're wrong," Lucci said, sweat beading his forehead.

Curling vapors of steam escaped from Luffy's mouth as he let out a sighing breath.

Lucci's incubus energy surrounded him like armor as he darted forward on puffs of air, his knife-like claws bared.

The leopard man drew all of his power together in his fingers until the energy shimmered like a pulsating white-blue sun around his hand. He cocked his arm back, ready to pierce Luffy with the chaotic waves of energy.

With a loud crack, the tension of Luffy's arm was released all at once and his inky fist rocketed after him.

Lucci shot a blizzard of bullets with glowing tails like comets, but Luffy slammed into the incubus with the full force of the soaring obsidian Haki. Lucci choked up a mouthful of blood as Luffy's arm extended into the air, carrying the incubus with it. Lucci dropped out of the sky, his limp body plopping in the middle of the courtyard battle.

Luffy wiped his brow, then turned towards the dumbfounded Parliament, who shuffled like they didn't know what to do now.

"Let's get him!" someone yelled from the onlookers.

"We can't let a human become King!" another said, and a group of enraged incubi broke from the crowd and rushed towards him.

The courtyard dirt crunched under Luffy's feet as he stepped forward, his free, unyielding spirit smoldering in his eyes. All could feel it, a feeling akin to basking in the warm orbit of a fire.

The sensation expanded, and a pulse of energy flooded over the crowd. All in the courtyard sank to one knee before him.

There was no doubt who was King now.

After a meaningful span of stunned silence, Luffy relaxed and they were able to stand once more. Cheers erupted through the crowd, and Sabo rushed over and clapped him on the back. Koala appeared with a news camera on her shoulder, giving Luffy a grateful smile. Behind them, the Revolutionary Army was going wild, dancing and embracing one another.

Sanji awoke with a start from the thundering voices. He rubbed his bleary eyes, then sat up and examined the mostly healed wound on his chest with a raised curly eyebrow. As he shifted, Zoro's hand dropped limply from where it was resting on his lap.

"Marimo!" he said, examining the cold, motionless man. Sanji grabbed Zoro's blood crusted shirt, putting his ear against his chest.

"Someone, please help!" the cook begged the crowd.

Nami ran towards them, her high heels clicking over the stone garden pathway.

"Damn it, you idiot! You've given away all of your energy!" she said with disgust as she leaned over him, biting her cheek. Her blue eyes flew open as she noticed Law beside him. It was almost impossible to determine who was worse off.

"As a member of Parliament, it is my job to protect the Prince. I'll donate to him. You take care of Law," Coby said from behind them.

"You sure? We can give energy out to anyone, but can only receive it in certain ways. You understand, right?" Nami asked.

"I understand," the lavender-haired man said with a shallow nod.

"You there," she said, pointing at Inazuma as she selected the one from the crowd who smelled faintly of her brother. "Help him carry Zoro inside, then stay close. He'll probably need both of your energies to get back to any sort of decent state. He may seem dead now, but he'll perk right up when you feed him," Nami said quickly, her eyes lingering on her brother.

"Hopefully," she added under her breath.

"Oi! I can do it!" Sanji protested, climbing fraily to his feet.

"No. Sit back down, this is no time to be jealous. Zoro's not out of the woods yet, and you aren't in any shape to donate," Nami explained with strict efficiency, her hands on her hips.

"Wait! I'm not jealous, Nami-san!" A vibrant wash of red swept across Sanji's face, and he hesitantly sat back down. He watched the men carry the incubus off with tired, watery eyes.

Nami turned back to Law. Luffy chewed on his lip as he sat on his knees across from her, the horribly injured man in between them.

The orange-clad men of Law's crew rushed over, gathering around their Captain's fallen form.

"Boss!" Bepo cried out.

"Can you fix him?" Penguin asked, his face long.

"Please, Nami..." Luffy pleaded.

She held up her hand to shush them all. "Just remember me when you're divvying up the treasure, and tell Law that I get his services for free from now on," she said, then dropped down and gave Law a kiss so sensual that it made Sanji blush from across the room. Law's men cleared their throats, shifting uncomfortably.

Her orange waves fell across Law's chest as she traced her fingers down his stomach, which was gaining a healthier color by the second. Luffy could literally see the flesh of his wound gluing itself back together.

"Wow, that's a lot faster than what Zoro did earlier," Luffy commented, leaning forward to get a better view. He could see the translucent power rippling like a waterfall into Law.

"It is if you do it this way. Plus it helps that I already know how he likes it. Maybe we can get together after all this and I can give you a few tips," she said with a wink before descending back on the man.

"I'd love to make Torao happy like that," Luffy replied, nodding as he pinched a handful of Law's blood-soaked jacket in his hand.

A collective sigh issued from the onlookers as Law's eyes blinked open. Luffy pounced on the prone man, squeezing him in huge hug.

"Torao!" he said, nuzzling himself into Law's shirt.

Nami swatted him away. "Shoo, he's not done yet," she said.

Coby stumbled out to check on everyone, his clothes ripped and disheveled.

"Well he's taking energy on his own now," he coughed, folding his legs under him as he groggily sank to the ground.

"Thank god," Sanji whispered as he closed his eyes, allowing the dark cloud of despair to drift away on the wind.

* * *

In the days following, Luffy began issuing his first edicts, the first of which stated that incubi and succubi were no longer allowed to take energy from any person without true consent. Coby had fallen into the role of Royal Secretary, translating Luffy's unpolished speech into text that was suitable to be written into law, as "tell them to cut it out or I'll kick their asses!" just wasn't going to cut it.

Now unhidden and out in the open, the Revolutionary Army put its manpower to good humanitarian use, assisting in helping quell uprisings after the instability after the battle and rebuilding damage to the city.

It took an eternity of agonizingly slow days for the injured to recuperate. Zoro gained a new scar on his chest and a blind eye. He couldn't complain though, as his curly-browed nursemaid spoiled him with delicious food and even more delicious _food._ That is, until he realized Zoro was completely well and just milking it.

As a human, Law had a much more grueling and painful path to heal, but he found that the constant company he received from the kingdom's new King by his bedside was surprisingly more comforting than annoying.

One month later, Luffy was officially coronated. Zoro wasn't surprised that it was more of a pizza party than a sacred ceremony, but considering everything it was perfectly fitting. They were accompanied by family and friends they had met along the way in Luffy's favorite pizza parlor, which was surrounded by a sea of people outside trying to get a glimpse of the unusual coronation ceremony. When Zoro placed his father's golden crown on Luffy's head, they could practically feel the roar of cheers through the ground as the whole kingdom watched the televised ceremony.

"We did it, Zoro," Luffy whispered with a contented grin, reaching up to balance the crown on his head.

The incubus nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, wearing a soft, cockeyed smile. "We did."

The past month had been made better by falling asleep next to the cook each night in the palace room they had temporarily claimed. Sanji had settled into his role of Royal Cook with ease, but Zoro was finding it too unsettling to continue to live in the castle in quarters just down the hall from his family's murders, even if they had been avenged now.

* * *

One night Zoro caught Sanji as they cleaned up from the palace dinner. The cook was heading out the kitchen door when Zoro grabbed him.

"Wait," Zoro said, holding Sanji's elbow. "There's something I want to show you."

The cook turned around and squinted at the swordsman. "Show me what?" he asked slowly.

"You'll see," Zoro said, a hint of a smirk spreading across his lips.

They descended into the garage of the palace, which was a parking lot chocked full of shiny luxury vehicles. The incubus found the garage attendant and whispered in hushed tones while Sanji fumed with curiosity.

The attendant pulled a discreet black car around, and the pair stepped into the doors he opened for them. There was a smoky glass partition raised between the driver and passengers.

"I can't believe we were ever used to this sort of luxury when we were kids," Sanji said as he ran his hand along the smooth leather seats. He explored a compartment containing a bottle of garnet-colored wine and crystal glasses.

Zoro nodded. "Yeah. I don't want to live this way now," he said with a shallow sigh.

"Me neither," the cook agreed, and their eyes met for a moment.

The sun had just begun to set, and the horizon was bathed in cotton candy-colored clouds that stretched like gossamer threads crowning a skyline of skyscrapers.

"Oi. Close your eyes," Zoro said.

"Why? Where are we going?" Sanji asked irritably.

"It's a surprise," the incubus replied.

The cook gave a huff, then begrudgingly closed his eyes. "You should have brought a blindfold. We could have gotten some use out of it later," he muttered.

Zoro shuddered. He had definitely been well fed since they started sharing a room. The familiar scent of Sanji's aroused aura doused the incubus's senses. He still marveled at how the cook could go from normal to edible in a matter of seconds.

"That's still an option," Zoro said slyly. He leaned over, his breath tickling Sanji's ear. "I might have to do something about it if you don't stop thinking about fucking me. I can practically taste you, and it's driving me crazy," he breathed.

The cook's aura sharply spiked. "Idiot! Do you really think that talking like that is going to calm me down? It's embarrassing that you can tell every time I think about that shit!"

"Yeah, you think about sex more than anyone I've ever met. And that's a lot coming from an incubus," he laughed.

The car stopped and the driver's voice issued from an intercom above their heads.

"We've arrived. Would you like me to wait or come pick you up later?" the attendant asked.

"No that's fine, we're staying the night so we don't need a ride back," Zoro said.

"Staying the night?" Sanji mouthed, his eyelids fluttering.

"Keep them closed," Zoro said, and before the driver could get out to open their doors, he helped Sanji out and snagged the wine and glasses.

Sanji heard the car drive off.

"Can I open my damn eyes now? Just where the hell are we supposed to be spending the night?" he complained.

Zoro took in a deep breath beside him. "Fine. Open them, you big baby."

The cook opened his eyes.

They were in the parking lot of a large building, parts of which still appeared to be under construction. The façade, which was still being constructed, was elegant and modern, the planes of it shifting in a way that made it look like a work of art, a feat only a master architect could accomplish.

Sanji squinted, tilting his head to the side until his eye caught a soft glow of light on the edge of the lot. There stood an old lighted sign, blackened with soot. A stylized fish leapt over some script lettering. It read _The Baratie._

"Is this?" he gasped, his head swinging towards the construction. His eyes went round as he took in the building with new eyes.

The incubus nodded. "I used some of my inheritance for it. The old man has been helping me with the layout. Welcome to the new Baratie," he said, motioning towards the building with a subtle gesture.

Sanji pounced on Zoro and flung his arms around his neck, their mouths crashing together. The incubus could taste the salt of the cook's joyful tears on his lips, and it was just the perfect seasoning to accompany the night he had planned.

"Want to go in?" Zoro asked, brandishing a key.

"Fuck yes," Sanji said eagerly, materializing by the door.

The incubus unlocked the door and held it open for Sanji, whose apparent plan was to push in first anyway as he practically shoved the other man aside in his haste to get in. Zoro raised an eyebrow, a wide grin plastered on his face. It was worth every bit of the staggering price to pay for the architect to put his other projects on hold, to hire twice the amount of skilled workers, and to continuously have the needed materials shipped overnight so The Baratie could be built faster.

Despite all of the ladders, equipment, and unfinished areas, the cook could still easily imagine the finished dining room in all its glory. Modern, industrial beams descended from the tall ceiling at artistic angles. The boxes of light fixtures he spied on a pallet in the center of the room were trendy pendant lights with thick-glassed Edison bulbs. A section of dark, reclaimed wood flooring was being laid, which gave the whole modern palette a rustic feel, adding warmth and character to the design.

Sanji repeatedly wiped his face with his sleeve. "Can I see the kitchen?" he asked with a quiet cough.

"Sure you can handle it?" Zoro teased.

"I can handle any kitchen, asshole," he snapped.

"We'll see about that," Zoro said, pushing the swinging door open.

The glow of stainless steel shone like still water under a silver moon as Sanji peeped his head in. It was the largest kitchen he had ever seen.

The cook swept in like a whirlwind, opening cabinets and examining every piece of high-end equipment all while rattling on like a chatterbox about he had always wanted this or that and repeatedly throwing that boyish, unguarded smile to his lover at each new discovery.

Sanji suddenly stopped, gripping the smooth, steel counter. "Wait. What about Luffy? I promised to be his cook at the palace," he said. He patted himself down for his cigarettes and lit one.

"You're always saying you're this master cook. Do both. Cook for Luffy, then supervise here and cook when you can. You're fast enough. I feel like I've seen you make and decorate a wedding cake in literally 30 seconds," Zoro said.

Sanji barked a laugh. "Ok, you have a point. Where are you going to be when I'm spending all this time cooking?"

"Washing your dishes. Remember, Luffy declared me the Royal Dish Washer. It was his second edict, actually," Zoro said, stroking his chin.

"Alright Lord Dish Washer, I'm cooking something for you right now," Sanji said, rolling up his sleeves.

"The gas isn't turned on and the walk-in freezer and fridge aren't connected yet, moron. Plus there's no food," the incubus said.

Zoro saw his shoulders droop. "Come on, I have one more thing to show you," he said.

They scaled a metal spiral staircase to a second level, and Sanji blinked wide-eyed as he saw a only row of doors down a short hall.

"There's a second staircase and elevator in the front so people can get to the special events room that makes up the rest of this floor. The old man said you'd been whining about needing one for a while for wedding receptions and stuff," Zoro explained, pulling some keys out of his pocket.

"I had been arguing a point, not whining. So where is this special events room?" the cook asked.

"You can't access it from this staircase," the incubus said. He led the way to the last door, unlocked it, and swung it open, allowing the bewildered cook to step inside first.

This was the only area in the restaurant that looked entirely finished. Sanji walked into an entryway with sliding white glass doors on either side. A peek in one revealed a bar to hang coats and place shoes. The entryway spilled out into a fully furnished living room with a modern black leather couch, plush overstuffed armchairs, and floating shelves full of cookbooks. The pleasant aroma of fresh paint floated on the air.

"What the hell is this place?" Sanji asked, his curly brows rising skywards.

"Our apartment," Zoro replied, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back.

"What?!" the cook exclaimed, nearly falling forward.

Sanji discovered a kitchen off the living room that was just a smaller version of the one downstairs. He ran through it with equal glee, then gushed over the slate bathroom with a deep tub and separate shower. Breezing past a spare room that was set up as an office, he opened the double doors to the bedroom.

The queen bed with a fluffy white duvet which greeted him was surrounded on one wall by floor to ceiling white glass wardrobes. He leapt on the bed, spreading his arms out.

"It's official," the blonde sighed contentedly, closing his eyes.

"What?" Zoro asked.

"I'm keeping you. I never could have imagined you'd do something like this for me," Sanji said, sitting up to meet the other man's gaze.

"For us. I plan on living here too, you know," Zoro responded.

"Yeah, I know how much you've been enjoying sharing a bed with me," the cook said, grinning wildly.

"You're damn right," Zoro said emphatically, moving towards the bed.

"Want to break in this bed?" the cook asked with a cunning smirk, patting the space beside him.

Zoro was hungry. He nodded, a pewter glow kindling in his eye.

A month ago, he was starving, he thought as his knee sank into the blanket between Sanji's thighs.

"Is it my turn?" the incubus whispered as he began to unbutton the cook's shirt.

"It is now," Sanji replied, giving him a sultry, half-lidded stare.

Zoro descended upon the other man, claiming his lips as his hand parted his shirt and grazed his bare chest.

Sanji sat up to shed his clothes more easily.

"I'm falling," the cook said quietly.

"Huh?" Zoro hummed as he kissed his neck.

"I mean… If this keeps up, I'm going to fall in… I mean, fall for you," Sanji coughed, subtly averting his eye. Zoro noticed the clamping grip the cook had on his wrist and raised an eyebrow.

"You know, whenever you fall, I always end up jumping after you," Zoro said as he pushed the cook down and pressed both of his palms into the pillow on either side of his head, lowering himself down on top of him. Sanji thought he might go in for a kiss, but instead he placed his lips beside his ear. The cook could feel the warmth generated from their cheeks as they pressed together.

"Even if you jump off a building, wherever you go, I'm following. I said I didn't want to live without you, and I meant it," Zoro said faintly, his hot breath tickling the cook's neck which was now prickled with goosebumps.

"Just like moss growing on a rock. There's no getting rid of you," the cook breathed, his heart leaping in his chest and a hot burn of a blush rising in his cheeks.

"Damn right. Although you do like having this moss on your rocks," the incubus said dryly.

"You always manage to take what could have been a moment and ruin it, you know that?" Sanji snapped irritably.

Zoro chuckled, his stomach jumping with the breathy laughter. "If you remember, ruining things is what got us here," he said, lightly brushing his palm down his the cook's bare arm.

"If you hadn't ruined everything, I would have never known how much more of an arrogant ass you actually are," the cook said smugly.

"And I would have never known how much you like to run your mouth in bedroom, shit cook," Zoro said, cradling Sanji's head in his hands and dragging a slow, worshipful kiss across his lips. He began to reverently remove the rest of the cook's clothes as if he were unveiling silk coverings from a sacred shrine.

"Shit, I wish I didn't love your asshole side so much," Sanji whispered. The cook peered up at the incubus with a soft, authentic smile.

And with that simple smile, Zoro's stomach flipped, like he had just dropped down the first crest of a roller coaster.

Like rushing wind had just come up from below, brushing over his skin.

And just for a second, he felt the weightless feeling of falling.

_The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for reading my story! Sorry for taking so long with this last chapter. I appreciate everyone who has supported me along the way, especially AlfredKvaak!


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